


i love him (on purpose)

by rachelwrites



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Red White and Royal Blue AU, Slow Burn, super slow burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:47:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 22,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25792345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rachelwrites/pseuds/rachelwrites
Summary: they spin around a few more times and zuko stumbles. sokka takes the opportunity to shove him backwards, hard, but zuko has a tighter grip on him that he thought because he follows the prince, the two of them tumbling— straight into the seven tier wedding cake. (obligatory zukka rwrb au)
Relationships: Aang/Katara (Avatar), Minor or Background Relationship(s), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), Suki/Ty Lee (Avatar)
Comments: 32
Kudos: 355





	i love him (on purpose)

**Author's Note:**

> wow. this is 20k words, officially the longest thing i've ever written. here are some notes.
> 
> 1\. while sokka and zuko are aged up in this fic to closer match the ages of alex and henry, there is no sexual content in this fic because sokka and zuko are minors in the og series and i am an adult (barely). i did my best to replace some of the more sexual moments of the original book, but PLEASE let me know if i could improve it anywhere! message me on tumblr (my url is in the end notes.
> 
> 2\. here are some songs i listened to a lot while writing this fic: the entirety of folklore by taylor swift, ophelia by the lumineers, and check yes juliet by we the kings. just felt important to say.
> 
> enjoy! :)

Sokka wanted _out_ of the Fire Nation.

He was only invited to this wedding as a stupid formality anyway. Why did he care if one of the Fire Nation princes was getting married? He was from the Southern Water Tribe for Tui’s sake.

Katara, of course, noticed his scowling and elbowed him in the side. He yelped and rubbed the spot where she hit him. “Quit it,” she said, under her breath. “Anything you do reflects on dad. Don’t be a dick to some of our biggest allies please.” And yeah, Katara was right, but that didn’t mean Sokka had to like it. Just because their dad was High Chief didn’t mean he had to always be on best behavior, did it? Okay, it totally did. He wasn’t going to screw things up for his dad just because he hated wearing a suit.

Of course, that wasn’t going to stop him from seeing red when his majesty, crown prince Zuko came over to their table. Zuko was… well Zuko was too hateable for Sokka to ignore. Sokka had disliked Zuko since the moment they’d met when they were fourteen. Sokka’s dad hadn’t even been high chief yet, he was just a high ranking official when they went on a week-long envoy to the Fire Nation. Zuko was fake nice to him the entire weekend and, when Sokka had prompted him, even outright rude. Since then, they thought it best to avoid each other except for when they couldn’t. Like at his own cousin’s wedding apparently.

Zuko walked with his shoulders back, the picture of perfect posture. His hair was pulled up into a bun, leaving his whole face (including his scar) visible. Sokka grimaced when he stopped next to him. “Hello Katara, hello Toph,” the prince said with a smile. Katara grinned and waved at him while Toph flashed a peace sign. Sokka coughed, making Zuko wince. “Sokka.” Sokka nodded curtly at his acknowledgement. “Anyways, Katara, I was wondering if I might ask you to dance?”

“Prince Zuko,” Katara said, rising from her seat with grace, “it would be my pleasure.”

Zuko smiled at her. “No need for the formalities Katara, we’ve known each other since we were kids.”

“Yeah,” Sokka snorted, “just means some of us get nicer treatment than the others.” Zuko rolled his eyes as Katara shot him a glare before she finally led the Fire Nation prince to the dance floor. “Toph,” Sokka said, elbowing the girl next to him, “come one, dance with me.”

“Ew,” said Toph, “you’re way too old for me Snoozles.” Toph was by far the youngest member of the royal family, even though she wasn’t exactly. Though she was sixteen now, Toph had been living in the South Pole since she was twelve and Sokka was sixteen, right after his dad was elected to his first term as High Chief. She was a noble from the Earth Kingdom who had a residency at the South Pole for “political education purposes”, which really meant that her parents didn’t know what to do with a blind daughter who didn’t want to settle down and get married. Toph’s family kind of sucked, which is why Sokka was glad to make her part of theirs.

Except, of course, when she was being stubborn. “Not like that, you dummy,” Sokka said, “so that we can spy on Katara and Zuko. Make sure he doesn’t try to pull anything.”

Toph got her usual maniacal look on her face. “I’m in,” she decided, grabbing Sokka’s hand. He dragged her out of her seat and onto the dance floor. Sokka realized quickly they were terrible dancers which was punctuated by Toph stepping on his foot. “Sorry!” she said quickly. “But also, it’s not really my fault.”

That’s when Sokka heard it. Katara’s laugh. He whipped Toph around which caused her to let out a yelp, but there they were. Zuko with his mouth right next to Katara’s ear, whispering something to make her giggle. He and Toph stopped spinning and she held his hand to follow him towards Katara and Zuko. “What the hell do you think you’re trying to pull man?” Sokka asked, separating the prince from his sister. “Flirting with my sister at your cousin’s wedding? Super not cool.”

And Zuko has the nerve to _laugh_.

“Hey!” said Sokka, pressing on Zuko’s shoulder to push him back. “Why do you think that’s funny?”

“Sokka, _stop_ ,” he can hear Katara plead from somewhere behind him.

“Sokka, _don’t_ stop.” That has to be Toph.

Zuko looks down at wear Sokka had made contact. “Okay,” he said, balancing himself. “It’s really not like that. And if you weren’t an _ignorant oaf_ , maybe you could—” Sokka cuts him off by charging at the other man.

Zuko’s surprisingly strong for someone as lithe and tiny as he is. But still, Sokka’s got muscles and two extra inches of height, giving him the natural advantage. They’re making a scene, he knows, but now that he’s been caught off guard by Zuko’s power he _has_ to win whatever faux fight they’re engaged in. They spin around a few more times and Zuko stumbles. Sokka takes the opportunity to shove him backwards, hard, but Zuko has a tighter grip on him that he thought because he follows the prince, the two of them tumbling—

Straight into the seven tier wedding cake.

+

“Sokka, my firstborn, my only son, light of my life. What the fuck happened at the wedding?”

Sokka sighed. “Hi dad.” Sokka’s dad didn’t seem to be… angry. More annoyed if anything. Toph and Katara had accompanied him for “moral support” which Sokka knew meant sitting and watching as his dad made fun of him. “It’s just, Zuko’s always brought out the worst in me.”

Sokka’s dad smiled understandingly. “I know,” he said, “but unfortunately we can’t let our personal feelings get in the way of politics. Especially not when _this photo_ ,” he lays down a glossy of Zuko and Sokka covered in cake and frosting, “is covering every CabbageCorp owned news outlet.”

Sokka sighed. “I know dad. I’m really sorry.”

“I know you are,” he said, “which is why you’re going to do me a huge favor.” Sokka heard Toph groan in the background, probably dismayed he was getting off this easy. Sokka nodded, eager to accept whatever would redeem him. “You’re going to become Prince Zuko’s best friend.” Katara gasped from the couch. “Suki!”

Suki, the communications advisor usually assigned to the kids came in. “Hiya,” she said, typing away on her phone, “Sorry Chief Hakoda, this will only be a second longer.”

“Hey Suki,” Sokka said, readying his usual flirting, “looking good.”

Suki paused her typing to look up at him. “Shut it.” Then she went back to finish her message. Sokka’s stomach sank. If Suki didn’t even want to playfully flirt with him, the situation must be serious. Suki let out a sigh and put her phone away. “You caused an international incident,” she said, pointing an accusing finger at Sokka, “and you’re very lucky that my British counterpart happens to be a genius. Every gossip rag is putting out this story, a ‘years-long rivalry’ between the sons of the Fire Nation and the Southern Water Tribe. We can’t have that.”

“We _do_ have a years-long rivalry,” Sokka protested.

Suki ignored him. “That looks bad for us. It looks bad for your dad in this upcoming election against Gilak who’s already criticizing him on foreign policy. So, the story we’re feeding everyone is that this was all a hilarious misunderstanding. You and Prince Zuko are actually best friends, and this was a play fight that got out of hand.”

Sokka scoffed. “There’s no way Zuko will agree to this.”

“He already has.” Sokka blanches at that, upset at being caught off guard. “He has your phone number,” Suki continues, “and I’m about to give you his. Do me a favor and text him first because he’s asleep right now. You’re going out to the Fire Nation to visit him sometime next week, figure out what you want to do.”

“Son,” Sokka’s dad said, stepping in to put a hand on his shoulder, “I know this is hard. But it would mean so much to me. It probably won’t require your effort for that long, just until we can be sure that the media’s forgotten about this little kerfuffle.”

Suki holds out a small piece of cardstock, which Sokka can only assume has Prince Zuko’s number on it. “Yeah, okay,” he says, conscious of Katara and Toph watching him intently. “I’ll even text the jerk first.” He takes the card from Suki and walks very calmly back to his room, where he throws his phone on his bed, willing it to burst into flames. That would be a good excuse for not texting Zuko, right? When it doesn’t spontaneously combust, he decides to give texting a try.

**_Sokka:_ ** _Hey, this is Sokka. Do I have the right number?_

Sokka plugs his phone in, fully prepared to go to sleep, when he hears a buzz. He checks his phone to find he’s already gotten a response from Zuko.

**_Zuko:_ ** _Hello, Zuko here._

Okay, that pisses Sokka off a little bit. Wasn’t the whole reason he was texting first because Zuko was supposed to be asleep? He says as much in his next text.

**_Sokka:_ ** _Aren’t you supposed to be majorly asleep right now?_

**_Zuko:_ ** _Yeah probably. Couldn’t sleep. What day next week do you want to come?_

Sokka’s going to let Zuko change the subject like that because he actually doesn’t care what keeps a crown prince up at night. He grabs his planner from the bedside table and flips through pages, looking at his daily events.

**_Sokka:_ ** _How does Thursday/Friday work for you?_

**_Zuko:_ ** _I have one thing on Thursday, but we’d have the rest of the day free for the press junkets_

**_Sokka:_ ** _…press junkets?_

**_Zuko:_ ** _They didn’t tell you? We’re doing a bunch of interviews about how we’ve always been friends and how stupid this whole thing is._

That… well that was new. Sokka makes a mental note to bug Suki about it later.

**_Sokka:_ ** _Fine. What’s your thing on Thursday?_

**_Zuko:_ ** _Visit to a children’s ward in one of the hospitals in Caldera_

**_Sokka:_ ** _Okay, sure then. See you Thursday_

+

Sokka got off the airship Thursday morning, already reminded of how Caldera was too hot for him. The air was dry, and he wanted a glass of water, but it was straight to the races with prince Zuko. Suki got off the plane behind him, waving at a girl with a braid standing in front of a black carriage. The two of them walked over and the girl said “Hi! I’m Ty Lee, Zuko’s public relations correspondent. If you could just sign these, that would be fantastic.”

Sokka flipped through the papers Ty Lee had handed them and turned to Suki in shock. “An NDA?”

Suki shrugged. “They signed ours.” Sokka decided he would sign, not to be outdone by Zuko. He passed the documents back to Ty Lee who grinned and opened the door. Zuko poked his head out and waved.

Sokka rolled his eyes and got into the carriage with him, leaving Suki and Ty Lee to get in the carriage behind them. As soon as the door was closed Zuko turned to him and said, “Listen, I don’t like this any more than you do, but if we’re going to survive today we have to not be actively awful to each other. Can you do that?”

“Can I do—of course I can be not awful!” Sokka interjected. “In fact, many people think I’m an absolute pleasure to be around.”

Zuko snorts. “Sure they do.” They somehow make it to their first interview without tearing each other to bits and Sokka watches Zuko put on the prince mask the second the step out of the carriage. Zuko waves the crowd and gets whistles in return. That makes Zuko blush and Sokka has to restrain himself from rolling his eyes.

They spout off a ridiculous amount of lies. Sokka calls Zuko his best friend at least twelve times. In one interview they’re on the floor surrounded by baby saber-tooth moose lions, which is the only good part of the morning. Zuko laughs and puts his arm around Sokka and Sokka feels like ralphing every time he does.

It’s not until they’re done with the press that afternoon that Sokka realizes Zuko hated it just as much as he did. They get back into the carriage and Zuko sighs in relief. “You know,” the prince says, turning to Sokka, “We did so much this morning, I’m sure you don’t have to go to the hospital if you don’t want to.”

And the concept of getting out of more time with Zuko is like music to Sokka’s ears. But then he wonders exactly _why_ Zuko’s trying to get rid of him and says, “No thanks, I’d love to join you in the hospital.”

Zuko shrugs and gives Sokka a wry smile. “Have it your way.”

The carriage pulls up to Caldera General around midday. Zuko leads the way to the ward with no mind for Sokka’s walking pace. He bursts through the door and the children cheer literally _cheer_ for him. Sokka is… shocked. Zuko being surrounded by adoring children did not compute with anything Sokka knew about the prince.

Sokka decided to make idle conversation with one of the older kids while Zuko read to some of the younger ones. “So, you’re really from the South Pole?” the kid asked, amazed.

Sokka nodded. “Yeah, I am. Does Prince Zuko come to visit you guys a lot?” The boy thought about it for a moment and nodded. “Do you like him?”

“He’s super nice,” said the boy, “he always talks about my favorite movies with me, even if he hasn’t seen them.”

They’re interrupted by a round of applause from the little ones Zuko is reading to. “One more please, Prince Zuko!” one of the little girls begs.

“I’m sorry Jia, but I can’t today,” says Zuko, giving her a hug. “I have to go back.” Then Zuko turns his eyes to Sokka and asks, “Are you ready to head out?” It takes a moment for Sokka to realize that Zuko’s asking him, and then he nods, following the prince out the door. Zuko’s going to make a snide comment, Sokka thinks, or just straight up insult him but then—

“Intruder in the building! Prince and First Son to building tactical position forty-two!”

Zuko’s eyes widened. “No!” Sokka wanted to ask him what the big deal about position forty-two was, but then they were shoved into a broom closet together and Sokka figured it out. They stared at each other for a moment before Zuko broke down in laughter. “I’m so sorry,” he said, wheezing, “I just _can’t_ believe this.”

Sokka frowned. “What? That someone’s attacking us? Down in the South Pole we take this kind of security breach really seriously,” he says, puffing out his chest a bit.

“No,” Zuko says, “that we’re stuck in a closet together. And we _hate_ each other. I don’t even know _why_ we hate each other!” That sets the prince off again and before Sokka knows it, Zuko’s sitting on the floor of the ridiculously spacious broom closet, trying to stop laughing.

Sokka sits down too. “You know,” Sokka says, “I can remind you why we hate each other. If you want.” Zuko looks at him intrigued and motions for him to continue. “Um, I came to Caldera for the first time when I was fourteen. It was before my dad was High Chief. They tried to make us make friends, and you were a super huge dick for a teenager.” Zuko’s eyes widen and he starts to laugh again. “I’m sorry, was I being funny?”

“You _ass_ ,” Zuko says, still laughing, “that was right after my mom died. I was being a dick to everyone.”

Sokka freezes. He mentally plays back the last six years in his head. Every interaction with Zuko, starting with that trip. Did he know Zuko’s mom died? Yes, he definitely knew that the boy sitting in front of him was motherless, just like himself. But did he know it back then? That is was so similar? “Shit,” Sokka breathed, “I’m sorry. I never realized.”

Zuko waves a hand in dismissal. “Don’t worry about it. I probably was being a little more insufferable than usual. I’ve apologized to anyone who knew me as a teen multiple times over.”

“I lost my mom too,” Sokka said, unprompted.

Zuko gave him a kind but sad look. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”

“You wouldn’t have known,” Sokka continued. “it happened a super long time ago. Like way before my dad was even involved in politics.”

“A time _before_ politics,” Zuko mused, “didn’t realize something like that was possible.” Then he looked at Sokka, more earnestly. “Does this mean we can stop hating each other now?”

Sokka smiled. “Yeah,” he said, “but you’re going to have to try a hell of a lot harder if you want to be my friend.”

“Noted.”

“So,” Sokka started, “while we’re in here and have nothing else to do…” Zuko started to look panicked, though Sokka had no idea why, “why do you spend so much time in a children’s hospital? You’re twenty years old and the crown prince, isn’t your philanthropy intensive part of life over?”

Zuko titled his head, as if that wasn’t the question he’d been expecting. “Oh,” he said, “Um, it’s a little bit more than just blind philanthropy. It’s definitely a give back what you got thing.” Sokka must have looked as confused as he felt, because Zuko continued. “I spent a lot of time here, after, uh…” He paused to gesture to the left side of his face, where his scar was.

Everyone knew the story. Prince Zuko and Princess Azula had been playing near the fireplace and the princess had thrown the ball a little too far. Zuko dove to catch it and accidentally landed in the flames. “Oh,” Sokka said quietly. “I didn’t know that.”

Zuko gave a humorless chuckle. “You’re really unlocking all of my tragic backstories huh? Your turn to share.”

And Sokka does. He talks about how he wants to be High Chief someday, or at least go into government. Zuko counters with the fact that he hates being a prince and if he could work as a curator in an art museum, he would do so in a heartbeat. Apparently they’re both huge sci-fi nerds.

“Ty Lee is one of my best friends,” Zuko said, after Sokka had mentioned how nice she seemed, “I hired her because she wants to do stuff like this and she’s great at it and I like spending time with her. It’s a triple win.”

Sokka wants to prod a little more. “Tell me about your other friends.”

“Well,” Zuko starts, “there’s Ty Lee, and also Mai. She’s scary, but amazing. I’ve known the two of them forever, they grew up with me and my sister around the palace. Then there’s Aang, I met him in school. Absolutely ridiculous, but he’s going to save the world someday. What about your friends?”

“It’s really just me, Toph, and Katara,” Sokka says with a shrug. “I love hanging out with them, and it’s hard to hang out with anyone else, especially because we’re all so busy. And I know it’s cheesy but they’re my family _and_ my best friends. My dad too.”

Zuko’s face darkens a little bit at that. “I’m not particularly close with my dad,” he says, “or my sister for that matter. We were best friends when we were little and then we weren’t and then, well, she went away.” Sokka nodded, remembering the tabloid story. The royal family had Princess Azula institutionalized for a breakdown of some sort. “I’m glad that she’s better, but part of her recovery is staying away from all of this stuff, which includes me. And that kind of sucks.”

Sokka’s about to say something comforting, maybe even give the other boy a hug when suddenly the closet door opens. “It’s all good,” the guard says, “you’re safe to come out now.” Sokka looks at his watch and realizes that they’d spent two hours together in that closet.

Zuko, who’s already standing, offers Sokka his hand to help him up. Sokka takes it, wrapping an arm around the prince’s shoulder. “Dude,” he says, “just out of curiosity, what were you doing up so late that night? When I first texted you?”

Zuko blushes. “I’m a bit of an insomniac, actually.”

Sokka grins. “Fantastic, because I do not plan on going to sleep tonight. Getting jetlagged for literally one day of travel is overrated, so tonight we are going to do a _huge_ Dragon Planet marathon. All six movies. Sound good?” Zuko smiles and nods, and Sokka feels a warmth envelop his chest. Fuck, they’re actually friends.

+

Sokka lands back in the South Pole, exhausted. He barely managed to sleep on the airship. He opens his phone to check his notification and there’s already a text from Zuko.

**_Zuko:_ ** _I’m going to kill you the next time I see you for saying that Book 4 is better than Book 5_

Sokka grins to himself.

**_Sokka:_** _what can i say? when i’m right, i’m right :)_

**_Zuko:_ ** _If you were here right now, I would literally fight you. With my swords. Because I can do that._

Sokka texts back a picture of him looking mock terrified and shoves his phone in his back pocket. Katara and Toph are waiting for him when he gets home, and Katara runs to hug him. “How was it?” she asks. “It wasn’t too bad right?”

Toph snickers. “Please, Sokka definitely killed him. Succession crisis time, right Snoozles?”

“Um, actually,” Sokka says, bringing his hand up to scratch the back of his neck, “we’re kind of friends now. Like actual, real friends. Not just fake ones.”

Katara smiles at him while Toph makes fake barfing noises. Katara turns to glare at the smaller girl who smiles innocently. “That’s great Sokka,” she says, facing her brother again, “I’m so glad”

“Ugh,” Toph said, “super boring.”

“We’re supposed to video chat tomorrow, do you guys want to say hi?”

“Of course!”

“Duh.”

Sokka smiles at how supportive his friends are and heads back to his room to lie down. He texts Zuko a bit more back and forth about exactly why the fifth Dragon Planet movie is better than the rest of them combined. After he feels his gotten his point across satisfactorily, he smiles to himself and takes a nap.

The next morning Katara and Toph practically beat down the door while Sokka’s getting dressed and ready or their call. They all sit on Sokka’s bed, Toph and Katara pushing each other to try to get in frame. When Zuko picks up, he has Ty Lee and another girl with him. Realizing they both brought their friends makes them both laugh. “Great minds, huh?” Sokka says, amused.

Zuko smiles at him and reintroduces Ty Lee, as well as identifying the slightly terrifying looking girl as Mai. Katara gives a wave when Sokka introduces her, and Toph sticks out her tongue and flashes a peace sign. “Sokka,” Toph says, yanking on his arm, “describe them to me.”

“Hm, okay,” Sokka says, “Ty Lee is super smiley, and she has her hair in a braid. Mai is _not_ smiling but you can tell she’s having fun by the look in her eyes. She has her hair in two little mini-buns. And Zuko I’ve described to you before.”

Toph pout. “Yeah, but that was when you hated him. What does he look like now that your friends?” That makes Sokka blush a little, and Ty Lee starts giggling on the other end of calls.

“Um, Zuko’s got really shaggy hair when it’s down, like it is right now,” Sokka starts. “He’s got a scar on the left side of his face. Makes him look super badass.” Now it’s Zuko’s turn to blush, but Mai’s eyes have turned steely, and she’s watching Sokka with extra care. The six of them talk for about an hour before eventually hanging up. “Text me soon, okay?” Sokka asks, before they say their last goodbyes.

Zuko smiles. “Yeah, of course.” And he does.

**_Zuko:_ ** _What if I just… smashed a centuries old vase. Do you think they’d have to disown me then?_

**_Sokka:_ ** _dude if u don’t want to be in charge can’t u just abdicate_

**_Zuko:_ ** _Too straightforward, next idea please_

And a few days later…

**_Sokka:_ ** _what’s the best outfit that says “my dad is a gr8 leader but i’m a leader in my own right so please listen to me”_

**_Zuko:_ ** _Nothing. Show up butt-naked, it’ll intimidate them._

**_Sokka:_ ** _u absolute genius_

Sokka and Zuko text back and forth for months. Zuko tells him about training to be the Fire Lord, Sokka tells him about what life’s like now that his dad’s campaigning is in full swing again. Gilak’s ruthless in his assaults on Hakoda’s record, arguing that the Southern Water Tribe has lost its way and needs to return to “tradition”. Anyone with half a brain knows that “tradition” is shorthand for “we hate progress so let’s go backwards”.

Then one day, Gilak gets on the news and makes a fuss about Toph being gay. “How can we trust High Chief Hakoda’s commitment to family values,” he says to the seemingly concerned anchor, “when _this_ is who he chooses to have his children befriend?”

Toph is sixteen. She is not a citizen of the South Pole. She should be off limits.

Sokka wants to beat Gilak up himself. Toph doesn’t seem to care ( _Meh,_ she says, _it’s nothing I’m not used to from home_ ) but Sokka is absolutely furious. He’s getting ready to head to the gym to take it out on a punching bag when he sees a text from Zuko.

**_Zuko:_ ** _Hey, I saw the interview. How’s Toph doing?_

Sokka’s anger abated for a moment, allowing him to text Zuko back with a mostly clear head.

**_Sokka:_ ** _not as bad as she could be, pretending to be totally fine for our sakes_

It takes a few moments for Zuko’s response to come in.

**_Zuko:_** _Just remember, if you’re planning a murder, legally I cannot be arrested for stabbing someone in the Fire Nation_

And okay, that makes Sokka laugh. He spends the rest of the afternoon texting back and forth with Zuko who manages to calm him down incredibly. At dinner he tells Toph that Zuko is fully ready to commit murder for her. Toph snorts and says “good”, and even Sokka’s dad cracks a smile.

“You know, Sokka,” Katara says, “you should invite Zuko for New Year’s Eve.” Sokka chokes on his soup. Toph whacks on his back until he’s wheezing, and he swats her hand away. “Sokka,” Katara says, “are you okay?”

Sokka nods. “Zuko,” he starts, “at our New Year’s Eve party? Here? In the South Pole?”

“Yeah, that was what I meant when I said you should invite Zuko for New Year’s Eve.” Katara looks at him oddly. “I thought you’d want to see him again. You haven’t seen him in person since that first time you went to Caldera.”

After a moment’s thought, Sokka realizes Katara is right. He _does_ miss Zuko, and he hadn’t seen the other boy in person in months. “Okay, yeah,” Sokka said, “I’ll text him.”

And Sokka meant to text Zuko right after dinner, he really did. But for some reason he couldn’t. He had the whole text typed out and everything, but he couldn’t bring himself to hit send. Sokka _needed_ to send the text; he _wanted_ to send the text. He thought for a moment and then called out at the top of his lungs “Toph!”

“Coming!” It took her a minute, but pretty soon Toph was grumbling her way into his room. “What’s up?”

“I need you to send a text for me.”

Toph pondered the request for a moment before saying, “Yeah, sure.” She held up her finger and asked, “Move my hand?” Sokka placed her hand right above the send button and let her know when it was there. With zero hesitation, Toph slammed her pointer finger on the button. Sending, sent, delivered. “All done?” she asked as Sokka continued to stare at his phone.

“Yeah,” he said, “thanks Toph.”

She shrugged. “Anytime. I love the mystery!” Toph wandered out of his room, probably back to her own. Sokka glanced at his phone again, perfectly prepared to stay up for hours awaiting an answer, only to see that Zuko had already responded.

**_Zuko:_ ** _Yes, that sounds great!_

**_Zuko:_ ** _Do you mind if I bring Aang with me? He’s back just for around Christmastime_

Sokka types out a quick reply.

**_Sokka:_ ** _yeah, totally! cw to meet him_

Sokka throws his phone onto his bedside table after that. He’ll figure out the details with Zuko tomorrow. For now, he just wants to live in the excitement he’s feeling about seeing Zuko again soon.

+

Every New Year’s Eve since his dad was elected High Chief, Katara and Sokka have thrown an absolute rager of a New Year’s Eve party at the ice palace. It’s always a who’s who of the up-and-coming young people in the four nations, no press allowed. It’s one of Sokka’s favorite parts about being son of the High Chief.

Tonight though, he’s not enjoying the party as much as he should. He’s anxiously waiting for Zuko to show up.

It’s three hours left until the New Year, and two since the party’s started. Toph’s arm-wrestling with some athlete, and Katara’s walking around trying to make sure she’s said hi to everyone. Sokka’s talked to a few people, but mainly he’s bothering Suki. “What if he doesn’t show up?” he says as she attempts to ignore him. “How embarrassing would that be?”

“Calm down,” said Suki, “he’ll be here soon. I’m texting Ty Lee right now.”

Sokka looked at her, confused. “You are? If you’ve known this whole time, why did you only tell me just now?”

“It was funny. I told you when it crossed into annoying.” Sokka frowned at that, but before he could comment something snarky in response she says, “Oh, look, there he is.”

Sokka turned around and sure enough, there was Zuko. He was wearing a maroon suit, that stupidly fashionable bitch, and he looked like he wanted to die. Katara was next to him, clearly talking to the shorter bald kid next to him, who Sokka guessed was Aang. He made his way over to save Zuko from his sister. “Hey buddy!” he said, opening his arms for a hug.

Zuko’s face relaxed into relief when he heard Sokka. “Hi!” Zuko said, grabbing him tightly. “How’s the party been so far?”

Sokka shrugs. “Pretty meh. Definitely better now that you’re here.” Zuko gives him a crooked grin and Sokka is just so damn _happy_ to see his friend he doesn’t want to talk to anyone else all night.

That’s when Katara coughs and elbows him. “Ahem,” she says, not even trying to hide her interjection, “Sokka, this is Aang.”

“Hiya!” says Aang. “Sorry in advance, but I’m a hugger.” The shorter boy launches himself at Sokka with surprising speed. Sokka laughs and hugs the guy back. “Sokka’s told me a lot about you,” he adds.

Sokka pulls back and raises his eyebrow, looking at the prince. “Oh really?” he responds to Aang. “All good I hope.” Zuko blushes a little and Sokka feels like he’s won the lottery. He _loves_ embarrassing that boy. He stays to talk with Zuko and Aang for a little longer before Katara drags him off, reminding him they need to say hi to everyone.

Sokka walks around with Katara for an hour greeting all of their guests and scoping out possible midnight kiss picks. There’s no shortage of women interested, but Sokka doesn’t seem to like any of them. When Katara finally lets go of him, he finds Suki. “Suki,” he whines, “you _have_ to be my midnight kiss or no one else will.”

Suki gives him a steely look and responds with an “Absolutely not.” Sokka tries to bug her about why, asking if she’s got a girlfriend or boyfriend he doesn’t know about, but she doesn’t answer. She does get flustered about it though, which is a win in his book.

Suddenly Sokka realizes it’s eleven-thirty and he has about fifteen more minutes to find a midnight kiss. He searches frantically and when he fails he decides he’ll just ring in the New year with a hug from Zuko and another glass of champagne. However, Zuko proves to be no easier to find then a warm body he wants to kiss, which genuinely worries Sokka. Had the other boy left without saying goodbye?

“Five!”

_Shit, countdown already?_ Sokka thinks to himself, looking around.

“Four!”

He sees Toph enjoying herself with a crowd of fans and admirers, and Katara’s just a table away. He decides to make his way over to them.

“Three!”

Sokka notices Aang standing by Katara and blushing ever so slightly. That’s good! If Aang’s still at the party, Zuko definitely hasn’t left yet!

“Two!”

As he walks, Sokka decides he’ll ask Aang where Zuko is. He’ll probably know.

“One!”

_Wait_. What’s Aang doing so close to his sister when it’s about to be midnight?

“Zero! Happy New Year!”

Katara gets up on her tip-toes to give Aang a peck on the lips, which makes him grin. Sokka thinks about it for a moment before deciding to let it slide. Zuko vouched for the guy and he did seem pretty nice. As he walks over he yells “Happy New Year, lovers!” He’s not above embarrassing his sister though.

Katara blushes deeply. “Sokka!” she whisper-shouts, as if Aang isn’t right next to her.

Sokka ignore her. “Aang, do you have any idea where Zuko went?”

Aang shrugs. “I don’t know man,” he says, “maybe to get some fresh air?” Sokka nods and gives a goodbye wave as he trudges through to crowd to find the nearest door.

It’s twelve-oh-eight when Sokka finds Zuko. The prince is sitting on a bench outside in the glacier gardens, playing with some of the turtleducks. “Hey buddy,” Sokka says, interrupting the silence. Zuko tenses for a second and relaxes when he turns and realizes it’s Sokka. “I just wanted to check on you.”

Zuko gives an embarrassed smile and Sokka slides in next to him. “Sorry,” he says, “sometimes I just get a little claustrophobic. Plus, I love turtleducks. They’re my favorite animal. I didn’t even know you could _have_ turtleducks down here.”

“Well,” Sokka says, oddly proud of the birds, “they do just great down here!” After a moment’s pause he adds, “Honestly, I thought I’d see you inside at midnight. I really thought you were going to kiss my sister, and _then_ we would have had a problem.”

“Your _sister_?”

Sokka realizes Zuko is looking at him in shock, and he gets defensive. “Hey, there’s nothing wrong with my sister! And anyway, she seems to like your friend Aang, which is a whole different story—”

Zuko cuts him off by chuckling quietly. “Agni, you really don’t know, do you?”

“What don’t I know?” asks Sokka, starting to get frustrated. “Zuko, I really don’t—”

Zuko interrupts him by bringing his hand to Sokka’s cheek and leaning in to kiss him gently. Zuko’s lips are soft and they taste like champagne and Sokka’s brain is short circuiting and he’s frozen and Zuko’s pulling away and, oh Tui Zuko’s _pulling away_. Zuko’s eyes scours his face looking for any reaction but Sokka, still braindead, doesn’t have one.

That’s when the panic sets in. Sokka can see it etched across all of Zuko’s features. “Oh _Agni_ ,” Zuko’s saying, not that Sokka’s even computing it, “I’m sorry.” Then Zuko’s jumping off the bench and running away, leaving Sokka just to stare after him.

Sokka’s not sure how long he’s outside for, but the music has long since ended when Katara comes out with a blanket to wrap around him. “Happy New Year,” she says, lifting him slowly, “let’s get you inside.”

+

**_Sokka:_ ** _zuko, i think we should talk_

**_Sokka:_ ** _zuko pls pick up_

**_Sokka:_ ** _zuko are you mad at me?_

**_Sokka:_ ** _dude pls pick up you’re scaring me_

**_Sokka:_ ** _pick up dude, i miss you_

Sokka calls a family meeting five days after the new year starts. A family meeting includes himself, Katara, and Toph, as well as a shout to their dad that they’re going to be late for dinner. When they’re both sitting on his bed, Sokka starts to talk. “So, I’m sure you both have noticed something’s been off with my for the last few days.”

“Yeah,” Katara says.

“Duh,” Toph says at the same time.

_Deep breath Sokka_ , he thinks to himself, _you got this_. “So, Zuko kissed me on New Year’s. Thoughts?”

Katara blinks at him. “Please elaborate what you mean by _thoughts_ ,” Toph asks.

Sokka sighs in frustration. “I mean… I didn’t know that he… help, please?”

“You didn’t know that Zuko was gay?” Toph asks, taking a sip of the iced coffee she brought with her. “I thought everyone knew Zuko was gay.”

“I didn’t know Zuko was gay!” Katara interjects, tapping Sokka’s thigh empathetically. “I only knew Sokka was gay.”

Toph spits out her drink and starts cackling. Sokka sputters and finally blurts out “I’m not gay!”

Katara waves a hand at him. “I mean, sure, I don’t know what label you use to describe yourself, but you _do_ like guys Sokka.”

Toph is still laughing and Sokka’s attempting to recover. “Katara, I don’t like guys. I’ve only ever dated girls.”

“Well sure,” Katara says, shrugging, “girls and Jet.”

Hearing Jet’s name again makes Sokka see red. Toph gasps and tugs on Katara’s arm. “Tell me more right this instant,” she begs.

“Jet was my mortal enemy,” Sokka says, eyes narrowing.

Katara rolls her eyes. “Jet was his boyfriend junior year of high school.”

“Jet was _not_ my boyfriend!” Sokka yells. “I just used to angry make out with him every once in a while!”

“Sokka,” Katara says turning to him, “You used to bring home Jet every day after school. Yeah, you guys were mean to each other, but for all the time you spent yelling at each other you spent twice that much time kissing. Every single time I tried to flirt with him you would tell me to back the hell off.”

“Cause he’s a bad guy!” Sokka insists.

Now it’s Toph’s turn to be comforting. “Sokka,” she says, “I know it’s hard to come to terms with your sexuality.” As if she’s expecting his protest, she adds “not that you necessarily like men. But I think you could definitely benefit from some deep thought. Let us know when you want to talk again.”

Katara guides Toph off the bed and they walk out, arms linked. Sokka can’t think of anything better to do, so he pulls out his phone and texts Jet.

**_Sokka:_ ** _hey_

He waits a few minutes, but if memory serves Jet is pretty glued to his phone so he shouldn’t have to wait long for a reply. History proves him right when his phone beeps.

**_Jet:_ ** _hey, haven’t heard from u in a while. what’s up?_

Sokka ponders for a moment, wondering if he should attempt small talk. He decides to just be straightforward.

**_Sokka:_ ** _were we dating in hs?_

He sees the three dots in the speech bubble and waits anxiously.

**_Jet:_ ** _i wouldn’t call what we did dating_

Sokka lets out a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding. He was absolutely, one hundred and ten percent right. Then his phone beeped again, and he looked at the follow up.

**_Jet:_ ** _you have to like someone in order for it to be dating_

**_Jet:_ ** _we were fuckbuddies? enemies with benefits? idk whatever u want to call it_

He shuts his eyes and thinks really hard for a moment. Sokka types out his next text.

**_Sokka:_ ** _how do u like, define urself?_

**_Jet:_ ** _dude what do u mean_

**_Sokka:_ ** _like how would u label yourself_

**_Sokka:_ ** _sexuality wise_

**_Jet:_ ** _dude i’m super gay?????_

**_Jet:_ ** _holy shit_

**_Jet:_ ** _are you only having your sexuality freak out now????_

**_Sokka:_ ** _thx_

Sokka shut off his phone. Like, all the way off. It was good to know that he still hated Jet, but that wasn’t what it was time to think about.

Sokka liked girls. That was for sure. Guys, well… he thought Jet was hot. Same with Zuko. Also, that reporter from the Tribe Times who was always covering the Chief’s Family. _Holy shit_ , Sokka thought to himself, _I think I’m bisexual_.

Well now that problem one was solved (as an abstract concept, we like dudes), it was time to solve problem two (do we like one dude in particular?). Sokka thought about Zuko. Zuko was attractive as hell. He made Sokka smile. Sokka always wanted to be near him or touching him. He missed him like an ache in the months they didn’t see each other. Sokka felt butterflies in his stomach every time he made the prince laugh or blush. _Okay, I’m into Zuko. Like_ super _into Zuko_.

His computer made a ring, and he realized he was getting the texts his phone wasn’t receiving now that it was off. Ten missed ones from Jet were not getting read. It was the one from his dad that was important.

**_Dadkoda:_ ** _Can you get your sister and Toph to come downstairs for dinner? I texted them to get you but they’re not responding._

Sokka closes his computer and walks the ten feet to Katara’s room, where she’s painting Toph’s toenails.

“Reflection done,” he started, “and about three things I am absolutely positive. Please let me finish the whole thing first.”

Toph snickered. “Twilight style,” she said, “let’s do this.”

Sokka took a deep breath. “One, I’m pretty sure I’m bisexual.” Toph gave him a thumbs up and Katara started screwing the nail polish cap back onto the bottle, clearly getting ready to run and hug him. “Two, I’m _definitely_ into Zuko.” Toph nodded and grinned and Katara gently put the other girl’s foot down and jumped off the bed. Sokka tried to talk quickly but Katara got to him first, squeezing the life out of him in the tightest hug he’d ever been a part of. “Three,” he wheezed, “I am unconditionally and irrevocably going to go for it.”

Katara pulled back, a little teary-eyed. “I love you so much,” she said, “but, ew. I still don’t ever want to hear about your love life.”

“Welcome to the club, buddy,” Toph said, patting him on the shoulder. She had made her own way over to them. “I’m proud of you.” And then for good measure, she punched him in the shoulder.

Sokka laughed, and realized his own eyes were a little watery. “Come one guys, it’s time for dinner.”

+

Luckily for Sokka, Zuko’s coming back to the South Pole for a trip with his recently married cousin. Why he’s coming, Sokka has no idea. But the Southern Water Tribe is hosting a state dinner in their honor, and Zuko won’t be able to avoid Sokka then.

Unluckily for Sokka, Zuko’s still not answering his texts. Or his calls. Or anything really. Sokka’s pleaded with Suki to get in touch with Ty Lee for him, but for some reason she’s refused. So maybe his attendance at the dinner will be a bit of a surprise for Zuko, but that’s okay! Right?

Sokka looks in the mirror and straightens his tie before finally walking downstairs. He scans the room but sees no sign of Zuko. He does, however, see Zuko’s cousin and decides it wouldn’t be a bad thing to introduce himself. He greets the royal formally before the other man laughs and says “Please, you must call me Lu Ten. My cousin has told me so much about you, I feel like we already know each other.”

“Zuko’s great,” Sokka responds, meaning it more than Lu Ten can possibly know. “I’m very lucky to have a friend like him.”

Lu Ten smiles. “And him you.” He pauses a moment before continuing. “My cousin is a very complicated young man,” he says, “please be understanding of him. He’s hiding out in your White Room.”

Sokka’s mouth dries. “Thank you,” he says, before speeding off. Sokka had mentioned the Palace’s White Room to Zuko once on a video call. He’d said it was one of his favorite places in the Ice Palace because of how calming it felt. But Sokka was far from calm as he raced down the corridors to reach Zuko.

He pushed the doors open and there was Zuko, looking at him and frozen mid-pace. Zuko’s eyes widened as Sokka began to march towards the prince.

Zuko put his hands up as if to protect himself. “Sokka, I can—”

Sokka ends his sentence by grabbing onto the back of his neck to pull him up into a bruising kiss. Zuko stiffens for a second and then relaxes, wrapping his arms around Sokka and pulling him even closer. Sokka doesn’t even realize it (he’s too distracted with how _incredible_ Zuko’s mouth feels) but he’s walked Zuko back into a small mahogany table.

He pulls back and Zuko whines before attaching his mouth to Sokka’s neck and _fuck_ _what was he about to say? Oh right_. Sokka leans down to Zuko’s ear and whispers “Jump.” Zuko shudders but does as Sokka asks, and Sokka catches him, packing him gently on the table. Sokka slots himself between Zuko’s legs and presses him back against—is that a painting of Kuruk? But then Zuko bites his bottom lip and Sokka forgets to care.

Sokka feels like he could stay there, pressed up against Zuko, forever, but Zuko pulls away far too soon. “Sokka,” he says, looking worried, “there are people coming.” Sokka takes a step back, letting Zuko slide off the table. The prince grabs his hand and drags him into the next room over. “Sokka _you_ live here not me,” Zuko hisses, “where do we go?”

The voices have clearly entered the White Room and Sokka snaps to attention. “Sorry,” he says, “I short circuited for a second there. Technically your fault.” Zuko opens his mouth to protest, but then Sokka yanks him towards the next doorway, dragging them through back corridors until they’ve found themselves outside the dining room again. “Okay,” Sokka starts, “here’s the game plan.”

Zuko raises and eyebrow. “The game plan?”

Sokka scoffs. “Oh hush. You’re going to walk in. I’m going to walk in two minutes after you. During dinner you’re going to tell Lu Ten you’ve decided to stay the night here instead of at your hotel. We have a guest bedroom made up for you or whatever.”

“Is there a guest room for me?”

“No,” Sokka says, grinning rakishly. He sees the blush creep down to Zuko’s neck and he bathes in the feeling it gives him. “I’ll leave dinner first, you’ll go after me. My bedroom is on the second floor, make two lefts at the top of the main stair war, _third_ door on the right. If you step into the first you’ll find Katara, so please don’t do that. Sound good?”

Zuko nods stiffly. “Okay,” he says, “I’m going to walk in now.” He brushes past Sokka, who grabs onto his wrist, whipping the prince around for one more kiss. They separate and Zuko is breathing hard. “You _have_ to stop doing that,” he says.

Sokka grins. “No, I don’t think I will.” Zuko rolls his eyes and walks into the dining room. Sokka counts to one hundred to pass the time and then walks in himself, sitting with his family and Toph. Dinner’s fantastic, he’s sure, but it’s hard to focus on anything anyone is saying when Zuko is sitting only three tables away from him.

Finally, dinner’s over and Sokka quickly excuses himself to head upstairs. He sits on his bed and pulls out a book, hoping he won’t have to wait too long. Zuko doesn’t even bother to knock. He simply throws open the door, letting it slam loudly behind him, and launches himself onto the bed. “No manners, huh?” Sokka teases.

“Do you ever shut up?” Zuko asks, attaching himself to Sokka’s neck.

Sokka takes a sharp breath. “Fuck, Zuko, don’t stop that holy shit,”

Zuko separates himself long enough to say, “I guess not.”

“Oh my spirits,” Sokka says, pulling Zuko directly into his lap, “if you don’t stop stalling I’ll literally throw you out this window.”

Zuko laughs at that. “ _I’m_ the one stalling? I’ve been trying to get you to do this for ages.”

“I didn’t even know you were gay!” Sokka sputters.

Zuko looks at him, still amused. “Okay. I’m gay. Now you know.”

“Oh,” Sokka says, “hi, I just realized I’m bi. And now I’m gonna keep kissing you, if that’s cool.”

That’s when Zuko gets shy. “I understand,” he starts, “if it was just a heat of the moment thing. We can totally forget about all this if you want.”

Sokka sits up and brings a hand to each of Zuko’s cheeks so that he’s cradling the prince’s face. “Dude, shut up.” Then he yanks Zuko forwards and they’re kissing again and Sokka again feels like he could do this forever.

He can’t though, and eventually they’re done with activities for the evening. They’re lying in Sokka’s bed, Zuko’s head on Sokka’s chest, and Sokka’s running his fingers through Zuko’s hair. “Sokka,” Zuko says quietly, propping himself up to face Sokka, “I think we should talk.”

Sokka responds totally maturely, by clamming a hand over Zuko’s mouth. He hums contentedly at the silence until he feels something cold and wet on his hand. “Ew!” he exclaims. “Did you just _lick_ me?” Zuko fixes him with a look and Sokka realizes. “Okay, I guess I can’t really complain about you licking me. But still. Gross.”

“Sokka, I just need to know,” Zuko says, “what this is. What this is to you. Because if it’s all physical that’s fine but then…” He trails off when he realizes Sokka is laughing. “Excuse me?” he continues, starting to get heated, “I’m trying to have a serious discussion with you here.”

Sokka continues to laugh. “Zuko,” he says, “I don’t know exactly _what_ this is, but it’s definitely something. I’m kind of super into you. I like you a lot. This,” he says, motioning between the two of them, “is too complicated for it to be worth it if I didn’t. I’m absolutely all in. Emotions and everything. You’re going to get a dumb amount of texts from me every single day like, waxing poetic about your eyes and shit.”

Zuko’s smile spreads across his whole face, and Sokka is struck again at just how beautiful the boy in his bed is. “Hmm,” Zuko says, pretending to consider, “texts are going to clog up my notifications. Write me letters, like a real romantic.”

“Letters would take too long,” Sokka scoffs. Then he leans down to kiss Zuko’s still smiling lips. “I’ll write emails.”

+

**_To:_ ** _zuko.private@firenation.gov_

**_From:_ ** _sokka@wumail.com_

**_Subject:_ ** _I miss you_

_Hey Zuko,_

_I almost started this email “Dear Zuko” but it felt weird. Too formal. Idk, this isn’t what I’m best at, but I promised you emails so emails you shall have!_

_Because my brain only functions when I plan things out, half this email will be me venting about how attractive and fantastic I find you, and the other half will be just some general life updates if that sounds good to you!_

_So to start: Tui and La Zuko, is it bad that every time I close my eyes I picture you? Every time I lie down I feel your head on my chest. Every time I open my mouth I feel the ghost of your lips over mine. I miss you. I miss the way you fit perfectly next to me on my bed and I miss seeing you blush and I miss making you laugh._

_Zuko, you drive me absolutely insane. Your smile brightens up the whole room (cheesy but true) and I feel happier just be being around you. Spirits, I feel happier just thinking about you. And have I told you yet how sexy it is when you’re all smart? I know literally nothing about art, but every time you start talking about it I want to kiss you._

_The way your eyes light up when you’re passionate Zuko… I wish you could see yourself and how gorgeous you are._

_Okay, if I keep thinking about you, I’m going to go insane and not finish this email. So now it’s time to tell you what’s going on in my life._

_We’re in full campaign mode down here in the South Pole. Gilak’s attacks on my dad get more aggressive every day. He is a really regressive bastard. He almost insulted my mom on live television the other day. How fucking ridiculous is that? But yeah, I’m helping out anywhere I can. Dad’s even been letting me do some stump speeches! Katara writes all of them for me though, and Toph comes along for “moral support”._

_I told both of them, by the way. I figured you probably wouldn’t want me to talk to anyone about it because, you know, it’s rough to be out but they’re the ones who helped me get my shit together in the first place. I hope it’s okay that they know._

_Besides that, I think Suki’s lying to me about something. Or she’s faking it because she knows I’m lying to her (about you). Well. I’ll get to the bottom of it eventually._

_Well. That’s all I have for now. Respond soon please, so I can stop going insane._

_Yours,_

_Sokka_

**_To:_ ** _sokka@wumail.com_

**_From:_ ** _zuko.private@firenation.gov_

**_Subject:_ ** _Re: I miss you_

_Dear Sokka,_

_I hope it’s not too formal for me to say that. I don’t mean it in the “that’s how you start a letter way”, but rather in the “genuinely you are very dear to me” way._

_To say I miss you would be an understatement. Honestly, even seeing you put “yours” in your signoff made my heart beat a little bit faster._

_Somehow, you’re winning on the “how many people we told” front. Honestly, I really only meant to tell Aang, I swear. But then Mai weaseled it out of me, and she told Ty Lee, who told my sister. My sister, thank Agni, just gave me a hug and made me promise not to cause an international incident. She also promised not to tell our father._

_I wish we could just be out. I want to show you off, bring you to royal dinners and the like. Sokka, you’re absolutely the handsome one in this relationship (?) and I won’t hesitate to have you executed the next time I see you if you try to assert otherwise._

_I can’t say that I’ve been able to stop thinking about you either. I think about how your hair feels under my fingers. I think about how your arm feels wrapped around my waist. I think about your lips on mine constantly. It’s starting to become a bit of an issue._

_Please say we’ll be able to see each other soon. More than just sneaking off in the middle of a meeting (or a polo match) like for the last two months. A real weekend away. We can even bring everyone else, just as a cover. I just need more than a few hours with you._

_I know that’s a lot to ask of you, especially during campaign season. But if you can, please tell me. It’ll give me something to look forward too._

_Lately my father’s been all about royal education again. I think having Azula back around the palace has set him off and now it’s my turn to be the golden child again. Have I mentioned to you yet how much I really don’t want to be the Fire Lord? If I could just live in the South Pole I’d be very supportive of your political career. I’m sure I’d make a great First Lady (First Husband? First Man?) of the Southern Water Tribe. The Ice Palace would have the best art it’s seen in years._

_I miss you. Please write soon._

_Entirely yours,_

_Zuko_

**_To:_ ** _zuko.private@firenation.gov_

**_From:_ ** _sokka@wumail.com_

**_Subject:_ ** _Re: Re: I miss you_

_Dear Zuko,_

_I’m sorry this email might be a little bit short, but you’ve convinced me to use the word “dear”! So, brownie points for that I guess._

_Zuko, you’re the pretty one. Because you’re denying it, I refuse to compliment your appearance for the rest of this email._

_Okay, just kidding. But only because I can’t resist. That’s how pretty you are. I mean, come on Zuko. You have to know that your eyes are the most ridiculous shade of gold. Every time I see them I feel like a leprechaun, because I just want to keep the gold to myself. And for La’s sake, don’t even get me started on your hair. It’s so dark and soft and I really wish I was holding it right now._

_I talked with Toph, and we decided your title would be First Lord. Because Lord and Lady kind of match? And that way it’s such a similar title to Fire Lord we can really stick it to your home country. I’m mostly kidding. I know you love them a lot._

_As for a trip, we have a week-long break at the beginning of next month. How about we meet somewhere in the middle, like Ba Sing Se? I’ll bring my entourage, you bring yours. I hope you can make it._

_Absolutely, 110% yours,_

_Sokka_

+

According to Zuko’s texts, he, Mai, Ty Lee, and Aang are already at the club. Katara is trying (and failing) to contain her excitement at seeing Aang again, and Toph is just there for the ride. He asked her if clubs are difficult for her, and she said only in terms of letting her in. She’s still practically royalty in the Earth Kingdom though, so even though she’s well under legal age the bouncer of the Middle Ring club they decided on lets her in without blinking when he sees her credentials.

Sokka is scouring the club when he finally sees them. The whole gang is sitting at pretty isolated booth, and his jaw drops when he sees Zuko. Zuko’s outfit is simple—just ripped black jeans and a red tee—but Sokka suddenly realizes he’s never seen Zuko wear anything besides varying degrees of formal wear. And that one time he was in a polo outfit.

Aang is the first one to spot them and he bounds over to them, practically skipping. He hugs the South Pole group and hand them, as previously promised, custom headbands with nicknames on them. “What does it say?” Toph asks Aang. “I mean, I’ll wear it anyway, but I would like to know.”

“Oh, okay!” Aang responds. “Uh, yours says ‘melonlord’. Katara’s says ‘dream girl’ and Sokka’s says ‘wrong about dragon planet’. Zuko requested that one specifically.” Katara tries not to blush as she ties her headband around her head and Sokka has to stifle himself from laughing. But then Aang leads them over to the table where it appears Ty Lee and Zuko are already several shots deep if the empty glasses on the table are anything to go by.

Sokka slips into the booth and gives Zuko’s upper thigh a squeeze. “You are so ridiculously hot when you dress casual please only dress like this forever.” Zuko grins and _that_ is officially too much for Sokka. “Please come to the bathroom to make out with me, like right now.”

Zuko looks at him shocked. “I can’t,” he says, shaking his head.

“Why not?” Sokka asks. “Scared of a little semi-public PDA?”

“I mean yes, but more importantly I’m on the list for karaoke.”

Sokka knocks back four shots and starts on a beer before it’s Zuko’s turn to do karaoke. Ty Lee follows him to sing back up, their headbands reading “flameo hotman” and “lying to us about not having a gf” respectively. Somehow the two of them have decided that “Secret Tunnel” is the song best suited for their vocal talents, and they’re shrieking the lyrics into the microphones. Sokka’s watching them fondly, only barely taking notice of when Aang and Katara slip off.

That leaves just him and Mai at the table. Mai, he suddenly realizes, has not had a drop all night. She turns to look at Sokka. “I’m his best friend, you know that right?” Mai’s eyes narrow. “If you fuck him up I’ll end you. I swear to Agni I will.”

Mai’s headband reads “scary spice (knife edition)”. Sokka lifts his beer bottle. “As you should,” he says, before taking a sip. “Actually, if I fuck him up you have my express permission to end me.”

Mai takes a moment to let his answer sink in before she gives the _tiniest_ of smiles. “We should hang out more.” She decides.

Sokka hears Zuko screaming again. “Secret, secret, secret, secret tunnel!” They finish and the whole bar is clapping for them, hollering at the top of their lungs for an encore. Ty Lee curtsies and drags Zuko into a bow with her, and they trip off the stage, giggling all the way down. Zuko leans over the table to get to Sokka’s ear, not even bothering to sit down. His breath is hot against Sokka’s neck. “Hotel time. Now,” he says, the urgency in his voice giving him away.

And yeah, it’s not like Sokka’s gonna say no to that. He grabs Zuko’s hand and drags him out the back where a carriage is waiting for them. From the second they start moving Zuko’s on top of him, his mouth of every single part of Sokka’s body. Sokka thinks he might explode from how all-encompassing the feeling is.

Eventually the carriage jolts to a stop, and that combined with their forced separation is enough to make the two of them significantly more sober than they were before. They slip into the hotel one at a time, getting their keys to adjacent rooms. After a few minutes of being in their own rooms, so as not to attract and suspicion, Zuko sneaks into Sokka’s and they start up again.

Zuko grins as he kisses Sokka and it’s _everything_. Sokka kisses him back like his life depends on it, and it that moment he’s positive it does.

When they’re done Sokka finds his way into the crook of Zuko’s neck to rest his head. Zuko, for his part, is already half asleep. Sokka doesn’t mind though. They’ll have plenty of time to talk in the morning over room service.

+

It can’t stay under wraps forever, but Sokka really wished Suki hadn’t been the first one besides their friends to find out.

Sokka had texted Zuko a few days before the nominating convention to vent about his stress. And suddenly Zuko’s there, in the South Pole, the night before his dad is going to accept the party’s nomination for High Chief. Sokka decides to hell with the press and the convention and he throws Zuko into his hotel room and keeps him there for twelve hours straight.

They wake up the next morning to Suki banging on the door. “Tui and La, Sokka, you’re supposed to be on the convention floor in _one hour_ to drum up excitement and I swear on my life I will _kick this door down._.”

Sokka looks at Zuko, who’s rightfully panicked. “Closet, now!” he whisper-shouts at the other prince.

“Bit on the nose, isn’t it?”

“Zuko!” Sokka hisses, try to jump into his jeans. “We don’t have time for jokes!” Zuko snickers and jumps into the closet, shutting the door behind him. Sokka walks up to the door, Suki still yelling on the other side. He takes a deep breath and opens the door.

Between Sokka’s shirtlessness and the state of the room, it takes Suki all of five seconds to figure out what’s going. “Sokka,” she warns, wandering around the room, “I better find out that this girl signed an NDA.”

“It’s not a big deal, Suki,” he says, trying to keep her calm.

“Not a big deal?” Suki turns on him. “Sokka, need I remind you that tonight your dad gets up to accept his party’s nomination for High Chief of the entire Southern Water Tribe? The _last_ thing we need is stories about you with an unapproved girl—”

It’s then that there’s a large clatter from the closet, followed by Zuko falling out and landing flat on the floor, still in nothing but his pajama bottoms. Sokka groans and slaps a palm to his forehead. “In my defense,” Zuko says, “I tripped over one of _your_ shoes.”

“Holy shit.” Sokka whips his head back to look at Suki, who’s staring at Zuko in abject horror. “This is an international scandal. Oh my spirits, did I do this when I made you guys be friends? Did Ty Lee know?”

“If it helps, this was kind of inevitable on my end,” Zuko adds.

Sokka groans again. “Definitely not helpful, dude.”

Suki focuses her attention on Sokka. “Does your dad know?”

That’s when Sokka starts to stress. “No,” he says, “and Suki, you _can’t_ tell him.”

“I’m not going to, don’t worry,” Suki says, her voice a little softer. “All I’m doing is asking that you tell him sooner rather than later. Give me the go-ahead and I’ll make sure he has time in his schedule.” She looks between the two of them for a second. “It wouldn’t make any difference if I told you to stop seeing him, would it?”

Sokka looks at Zuko, now sitting crisscross on the floor. “Not even a little bit,” Sokka says confidently.

So that’s how a week after the convention Sokka gets five minutes of time alone with his dad. Hakoda’s regarding him warily, confused as to why he’s spent two of those minutes in silence, pacing back and forth in front of him. “Son,” the High Chief starts, “is everything—”

“I’m bisexual!” Sokka blurts. “I haven’t known for too long and I’m sorry I kept it from you.”

Hakoda stands up to hug his son. “I love you,” he says, “and I’m proud of you. I’m glad you told me.”

Sokka realizes he’s crying a little bit. “Um, that’s not it,” he says pushing his dad away. “I met someone. And I’ve been seeing them for a little bit now.” His dad waits for a moment. “It’s Zuko.”

“Zuko… Prince Zuko-Zuko?” Sokka nods and his father sighs. “Oh. Okay then. That makes this more of a thing. Are you free in an hour, just for a debrief? Bring any relevant financial documents and all that. I have to get my materials” Sokka smiles. Now at least they’re back to normal.

An hour later Sokka’s sitting in the same room and his dad has a presentation up on the board: “Sexual Experimentation with Foreign Leaders and You”. Sokka groaned when he looked at the title, but it was mostly supportive things and just making sure he hadn’t used any taxpayer dollars to run off and see Zuko. Which he’d been explicitly careful not to do, thank the spirits.

It’s not until the end that his dad breathes a sigh of relief. “Only one more thing,” he says. Sokka motions for him to continue. “I love you, and I’ll support you no matter what. But if this gets out the wrong way, it’ll follow you forever. It’ll affect your career and running for office in the future and I just you to be sure about him. I want you to figure out if you feel forever about him.” Sokka’s silent and his dad starts again. “You don’t need to tell me yet, just some food for thought, okay?”

+

**_To:_ ** _sokka@wumail.com_

**_From:_ ** _zuko.private@firenation.gov_

**_Subject:_ ** _Thinking of you_

_Dear Sokka,_

_It’s been too long since I’ve last seen you. Sooner or later I’m going to have to tell the Fire Nation government to arrest you, because it’s hard to get any work done with you on the loose. Just thinking about you, knowing you’re out there, makes me impossibly distracted. I can imagine the posters now: Fire Nation’s Most Wanted Criminal, Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe. Wanted for being too unbearably hot. Reward: 7000 gold pieces upon return to Prince Zuko._

_But truly, life has been boring without you lately. Father’s gotten intense again and Azula’s withdrawn to her room. I just wish she would come out for dinner, you know? And we could sit and eat and laugh and be happy like we were kids. I know we’re not kids anymore, but I could really use some light in my life right now._

_Seeing Katara’s photos of you guys on the campaign trail made me smile. You all look fantastic. How is campaigning? It’s not something I’m particularly used to, I have to say. Being on the road sounds like fun though._

_I found this painting I thought you would like. Well really, I liked it. The man in the shadows looks a little bit like you I think._

_Anyway, I’d ask you to write back soon, but you always do._

_Yours to the fullest extent,_

_Zuko_

**_To:_ ** _zuko.private@firenation.gov_

**_From:_ ** _sokka@wumail.com_

**_Subject:_ ** _Re: Thinking of you_

_Dear Zuko,_

_I’m glad to hear that I’m a rogue-ish outlaw in your fantasies. I could put on a hippocowboy hat for you if you wanted me to? Maybe we’ll watch some hippocowboy movies the next time we head out._

_Campaigning is incredible but exhausting. It’s a lot of us driving or flying from place to place and making the same speech ten times in a row. It’s hard because obviously it doesn’t rely on us, but it feels like if we do a bad job we put dad out of a job. Not that you’d know what that feels like, you monarchist._

_We usually head up to Ember Island around this time every year. Dad can’t come with this summer (campaigning, duh) but… maybe you could come with? Check with Ty Lee, I’m sure Toph and Katara would love to see you too. They have these terrible shows too and it would insult your artistic sensibilities to watch one, so I have to take you. Obviously._

_Zuko, you gotta beg Ty Lee to let you come. I miss you and a few days at the beach with you sounds absolutely perfect and now that I’ve imagined it in my head I’ll be really sad if it doesn’t happen. Like super sad. So please come._

_Super-duper yours,_

_Sokka_

_P.S. Definitely bring a bathing suit._

+

“Sokka, you have to let me pick the music. I’m your sister!”

“Yeah, but I put three hours of work into creating this playlist with perfect beach vibes.”

Sokka sighs and looks at Zuko, who’s sitting across from him in the carriage. Top-down, with the wind running through his hair on the way from the house to the beach, Sokka can’t help but think that Zuko looks the most beautiful and relaxed he’s ever looked. “Babe,” Sokka asks, “tiebreaker?”

Zuko smiles softly and squints his eyes, looking between Toph and Katara and mock focus. “Do either of you have _Girls from Ba Sing Se_ on your playlist?”

Toph screeches in delight. “I do!”

“Toph’s playlist wins,” Zuko says, “sorry Katara.”

Katara pouts as Toph cackles and connects her phone to the speakers. “Suckers.” Katara sticks her tongue out at her in response. Toph’s music starts to play and the rest of them starting to sing along.

Sokka, Katara, and Toph were told that they get exactly one week off from the campaign trail to spend at the Ember Island house. Usually it’s the three of them and Hakoda, but he’s too busy to join them this year. He made Sokka swear up and down that he was responsible enough to watch out for Katara and Toph. Also, under their new honesty policy, he told his dad that Zuko was coming. To his dad’s credit, he handled it pretty well.

So now that Zuko’s finally at the beach with them, Sokka feels like he can breathe a sigh of relief. It’s finally just the four of them, Sokka’s little family, and they have nothing to worry about. They’re far away from the election, far away from the eyes of any reporter that could trouble them. It’s just them and the beach.

Just as he’s thinking of it, the carriage pulls up to the dunes. Katara and Toph jump out while Zuko slips out a little more slowly while Sokka tips the driver before following. They set out their towels and Katara makes a beeline for the water while Toph lies down to take a nap. “There are two acceptable reasons to wake me up. If we’re leaving, or if I’m getting a sunburn.”

“What if there’s a hurricane?” Zuko asks, seemingly genuinely concerned.

Toph snorts. “Pretty sure I can survive that, Sparky.”

Sokka decides to follow Toph’s example while Zuko decides on reading as a way to pass the time. The warmth of the sun makes it easy for Sokka to take his nap. When he wakes up, Zuko’s abandoned his book. If the wet hair is anything to go by he’d been in the water for a bit then climbed back out to take a nap of his own.

Sokka turns on his side to face to boy next to him. “How are you feeling?”

Zuko hums contentedly, his eyes closed. “Relaxed. Warm.”

“It’s nice,” Sokka muses, “just being a beach bum for a little bit. Wish I could do this forever.” Zuko nods slightly. “Hey Zuko?” the prince cracks an eye open. “What would you do if you weren’t, like, the crown prince of the Fire Nation?”

“I’d work at a museum,” Zuko says, without hesitation. With a slight groan he pushes himself up into a sitting position. “Somewhere I could just look at and talk about art all day.” Zuko pauses for a moment before asking, “What about you?”

Sokka shrugs. “I don’t know. I’ve always wanted to go into government, save the world stuff even before my dad. It’s what I care about, you know? Like I have the opportunity to make things better for people, for _my_ people. How can I say no at the chance to do that?”

Zuko smiles at him. “I wish every politician had the same outlook on politics that you do. We’d be living in a _much_ better world.”

“One can hope!”

“The art historian and the High Chief,” Zuko says, laughing a little gruffly, “we’d make quite the pair. Unfortunately, I have a country to rule and, hopefully, so do you.”

“Don’t worry,” Sokka says automatically, “we’ll figure it out. We have time.” Zuko looks at him wide-eyed before masking his surprise and turning away.

Sokka thinks back, wondering what he could have said when he realizes. _We’ll figure it out_. _We have time_. The realization is blunt, as if someone’s hitting him over the head with a club. Sokka remembers his father’s question, which feels like so long ago and realizes the answer is yes. His next coherent thought is _I have to tell Zuko_.

That’s when Katara comes running out of the water, yelling about bugs, and they decide it’s time to head back to the house. Toph complains that she’s starving the whole way there and Sokka promises her dinner will be done quickly. When they make it back, Toph and Katara race upstairs (probably trying to get the first shower), while Sokka and Zuko stay outside, getting started on dinner.

Sokka is cooking, of course, and Zuko’s rotating between reading his book and pretending to be helpful. He’ll grab the spices Sokka needs before he even asks for them. Sokka rewards each of his efforts with a kiss on the cheek, which makes Zuko blush. Then he’ll go read another few pages until Sokka is about to need something again.

Sokka’s about to need the garlic and sure enough there’s Zuko. This time though, Zuko doesn’t left his side. He’s hugging Sokka from behind and resting his chin on his shoulder. When the food is just about done, Sokka turns off the grill. _No better time than the present_ , he thinks. “You know,” Sokka says moving to face Zuko, “I need you to know, I—”

Zuko drags Sokka into a kiss, passionate but panicked nonetheless. When Zuko pulls back he calls “Katara, Toph! It’s time for dinner!” When Sokka looks at Zuko curiously he shrugs. “I’m hungry.”

Katara and Toph come barreling out of the house, talking incessantly. While Sokka frowns a little, he doesn’t worry. Like he’d said earlier, they have all the time in the world. When they all sit down and start eating Sokka forgets what he was even thinking about, happy to just sit and be happy with the people he cares about the most. In that moment, Sokka can’t help but think to himself about how his life is perfect.

The next morning Sokka wakes up to no Zuko. Just a note the prince had left behind.

_Sokka –_

_Something came up at the palace. Don’t worry about me. Ty Lee’s picking me up from the mainland. See you soon._

_Xx, Zuko_

+

**_Sokka:_ ** _hey, missed u this morning! just lmk when u get back safely_

**_Sokka:_ ** _everything ok bud?_

**_Sokka:_ ** _zuko pick up you’re freaking me out_

**_Sokka:_ ** _zuko i swear to tui if you don’t pick up_

**_Sokka:_ ** _fine don’t text me back then_

**_Sokka:_ ** _just be a dick like that idec_

**_Sokka:_ ** _zuko please just tell me what i did wrong_

**_Sokka:_ ** _we can fix this i swear_

**_Sokka:_ ** _zuko please pick up_

**_Sokka:_ ** _zuko i will literally never forgive you for this_

**_Sokka:_ ** _zuko please_

**_Sokka:_ ** _i miss u_

A week after he’s last heard from Zuko, Sokka’s given up on reaching him entirely. He lives on autopilot, smiling for the cameras, drinking coffee, and groaning when Gilak makes a speech.

Katara has noticed something’s wrong of course, and in an effort to make him feel better has decided to make him clean his room. She’s promised it’ll bring a “breath of fresh air” to whatever problem he’s trying to solve in his head right now. He doesn’t have the heart to tell her the problem’s not really his to solve.

And Sokka’s doing absolutely fine until he finds his headband from that night in Ba Sing Se, and then the next thing he knows he and a guard are on an airship headed towards Caldera. He figures he might as well be nice, so he sends Zuko a warning text.

**_Sokka:_ ** _i’m omw_

Suki’s pissed at him when he calls her from the air asking for a car to take him to the palace, but something in Sokka’s voice must make her crack because eventually she agrees. Ty Lee greets them at the other side of the palace walls, an unusually grim look on her face.

Sokka knows what she’s about to say before she can even open her mouth. “Don’t you dare tell me to leave.”  
  


“Suki called ahead,” she responds, “that’s why you were able to make it this far with no problem. This is as far as you’re getting though.”

“Bullshit,” Sokka bites, “I need to see Zuko.”

Ty Lee shakes her head. “I can’t allow that.”

Sokka pushes past her and starts banging on the door. “Zuko!” he shouts. “Zuko, you motherfucker!”

“Sokka I can _very_ easily have you removed.”

“Zuko, you piece of shit,” Sokka continues, bringing up a foot to help in his attempt to knock the door down, “get your ass down here!”

Ty Lee grabs his arm before he can land another strike. “You are making a _scene_.”

Sokka pulls away. “Oh yeah? How about I just keep yell and we see which paper shows up first?” He turns back to the door. “Your royal _fucking_ highness, get down here!”

“Team Carnival,” Ty Lee whispers, putting a finger to her earpiece, “we’ve got a situation outside—”

“Agni, Sokka, what are you doing?” Sokka looks up to see Zuko standing in the doorway, barefoot in just a sleep shirt and sweatpants. He looks great but Sokka doesn’t want to think about that right now, because he still wants to be angry.

He points a finger towards Ty Lee. “Tell her to let me in.”

Zuko sighs and looks pointedly at Ty Lee. “Fine,” she says, “your death wish.”

“ _Thank_ you,” Sokka says, following Zuko inside. Once the door is shut behind him he starts again. “Really nice, ghosting me for a week, then not even letting me inside?”

Zuko turns to him and Sokka is struck by just how tired the prince looks. “I’d rather not do this where we could be overhead,” he says, before continuing through a door to what must his bedroom and motioning for Sokka to follow.

Sokka stomps after him. “Do what?” he asks, as Zuko shuts the door. “What are you gonna do, Zuko?”

Zuko closes his eyes as if he’s willing himself strength. “I’m going to let you say what you need to say so that you can leave.

Sokka stares at him. “What, and then we’re over?”

Zuko doesn’t answer him.

Sokka feels every emotion pouring to the top of his throat and he feels like he might throw up, or cry, or both. “Seriously?” he asks indignantly. “Two weeks ago, it was emails about how you miss me and I’m your number one most wanted and now that’s it? You thought you should fucking _ghost_ me? I can’t fucking shut this off like you do Zuko.”

Zuko looks startled at that. “You think I don’t _care_ as much as you do?”

Sokka scoffs. “You’re definitely acting like it!”

“I don’t have time to explain how wrong you are—”

“Tui and La, could you stop being an obtuse fucking asshole for a minute?”

“So glad you came all this way to _insult_ me—”

“I fucking love you, okay?” Sokka half yells, really what he’s finally said. It feels good, almost, to have it off his chest. “I love you. You don’t make it easy, but I do.”

Zuko looks even more stressed than he did before. “That’s exactly why we can’t do this.”

Sokka swallows hard. “You’re not even going to _try_ to be happy?”

“For Agni’s sake Sokka, I’ve been trying to be happy my entire life. But my birthright is a _country_ , not happiness.”

“Oh my spirits,” Sokka groans. “So, what, this was all a game to you?”

“You are a _complete_ idiot if you believe that,” Zuko hisses. “When have I ever pretended to be anything less than in love with you? Are you so fucking self-absorbed that you think this is about whether or not I love you, rather than the fact that I’m an heir to the throne? You at least have the _option_ not to choose public life but I will live and die in these palaces and in this family so don’t you dare question if I love you when it’s the thing that’s absolutely going to ruin me.”

Sokka doesn’t move, doesn’t breathe, waiting for Zuko to continue. He sighs and goes on, his voice hoarse. “It wasn’t supposed to be an issue. I thought I could just have some part of you and you’d never have to know because someday you’d get tired of me and leave because I’m…” he trails off and gestures at his whole being. “I never thought I’d have this choice that I can’t make because I never… I never thought you’d love me back.”

“But I do!” Sokka says, running to Zuko and grabbing his hands. “And you _can_ choose.”

Zuko shakes his head. “You know I can’t”

“Zuko,” Sokka asks, “what do you want?”

It’s almost imperceptible as Zuko mutters it quietly under his breath. “I want you.”

“Then fucking _have me_.”

“I can’t!” Zuko says, throwing his arms up in anger. “I’m not _like_ you, I don’t have a supportive family, and I’m not chasing after a career in politics so I can be even _more_ scrutinized! I can love you and not want your life!”

“You think I want to be Fire Lady?” Sokka shouts. “Red robes and three tea parties a month?”

Zuko laughs humorlessly. “Then what are we even doing here? If our lives are so incompatible.”

“We can figure it out Zuko,” Sokka begs. “We can figure it out together.”

“I don’t think I can,” Zuko responds, shaking his head.

Sokka feels like he’s been slapped. They stand for several moments in silence, neither of them daring to break it. “Fine,” Sokka finally says, “You know what? I’ll leave.”

“Good,”

“I’ll leave,” Sokka continues, “as soon as you tell me to leave.”

Zuko gives him a pained look. “ _Sokka_.”

He gets right up in Zuko’s face. “If you’re going to break my heart tonight,” he warns, “you better have the guts to do it. Tell me you’re done with me and I’ll get on the airship. That’s it. You’ll never see me again and you can live here for the rest of your life and be miserable and paint a bunch of miserable art about it. Just say it.”

“Fuck you,” Zuko says, his voice breaking. He grabs to handfuls of Sokka’s shirt and Sokka smiles knowing he’s won. He’s going to get to love this stubborn idiot for the rest of his life.

“Tell me,” Sokka says, one more time, “to leave.”

Sokka feels it before he registers his back had hit the wall. Zuko is kissing him desperately and wildly, and Sokka is returning it with as much as he can. It’s not until the kiss starts to taste salty that he realizes Zuko’s crying. He breaks them apart and the prince collapses against his chest in heavy sobs. Sokka walks them over to the bed and just sits with Zuko, rubbing his back until his sobs turn into snores, before he finally drifts off to sleep too.

When Sokka wakes up, Zuko’s gone. He panics, immediately reminded of Ember Island, only for Zuko to walk through the door with a tea tray. “Good morning, sleepyhead,” Zuko says sweetly, setting the tray down on the bedside table.

Sokka grins at seeing Zuko and then the past evening’s events come rushing back to him. “Zuko,” he starts, “I owe you an apology.”

Zuko raises a hand in a stop motion before he sits down on the bed next to Sokka. “Do you know how I got my scar?”

Sokka’s a little thrown by the question. He nods and then says, “You and Azula were playing by the fireplace, right? And she threw the ball a little too far and you dived…” He stops when he sees Zuko shaking his head.

Zuko takes a deep breath. “When I was thirteen I was joking around with Azula. Lu Ten had brought one of his friends back to the palace for a sleepover, and Azula told me she thought he was pretty. I said I thought so too. That’s when my dad came in.” The prince shudders and Sokka grabs on to his hand and squeezes it reassuringly. “He grabbed me, told me I was unnatural, that I was never to say that type of thing again, and then he slapped me. I went flying straight into the fireplace. I passed out immediately. That’s the only time he’s ever laid a hand on me or Azula, but still.”

Sokka is overcome with the desire to murder a foreign head of state in his sleep, but the pieces were starting to fit together in his head. “Azula took the blame,” he says slowly, “is that why…”

Zuko smiles sadly. “In part,” he says. “I was the heir, she was the spare. The whole country thought she hurt me. They didn’t look at her the same way after. But that’s not why I told you. Not for pity either. It’s because you need to know what we’re up against. If you choose this. If you choose me.”

Zuko is looking at him so earnestly, and that’s when Sokka realizes. If he said it was too much and he couldn’t do it anymore, Zuko would let him walk out that door. He would give it all up to protect Sokka. The thought makes Sokka surge forward to press his lips against Zuko’s. Zuko brings a hand up to hold his shoulder. Zuko tastes like tea and Sokka’s sure he still has morning breath and the whole position is very awkward but it’s the best kiss of Sokka’s life. He pulls back and Zuko is smiling softly. “I choose you,” Sokka says, “I love you. I choose you in this life and I’d choose you in any of the thousand after this.” Zuko grins and grabs onto the front of Sokka’s shirt to bring him into another kiss

+

Katara is the first to notice. She makes a big show of gasping and pointing before finally saying, “Suki. What the _hell_ is that on your finger?”

Sokka looks to where she’s gesturing and sees the hugest of diamond rings on Suki’s finger. His jaw drops. Suki doesn’t even look up from her phone while answering. “There’s nothing on my finger.”

Katara, apparently refusing to give up, continues. “Oh my spirits, Suki are you _engaged_?”

“Suki,” Sokka starts, “I think my head is going to fall off if you don’t answer that question.”

Suki rolls her eyes and looks at the siblings. “Yes, I am engaged,” she says, “and no, I am not telling you who to.”

“ _Suki_ ,” Katara whines, “please?”

The two of them continue their back and forth and Sokka gets a notification on his phone, pulling it out of his back pocket to check. It’s from the news app, a headline reading _Who is Prince Zuko’s New Beau?_ He can feel himself paling as Katara and Suki fade to a dull noise around him. He scrolls as his finger shakes, seeing pictures of Zuko smiling more, evidence of him staying in hotel rooms around the world the past several months, his recent lack of decoy dates.

Sokka was desperately trying not to fall over. He and Zuko had a _timeline_ , they had it all planned out. After Sokka’s last visit to Caldera they’d decided that they were going to wait until after the election and then start coming out in bits and pieces, just a little bit at a time. But this was going to ruin everything.

It wasn’t until he felt Katara’s hand on his shoulder that he snapped back to attention. “What’s wrong?” she asks.

He holds his phone out and Katara barely get a look at it before Suki snatches it away from him. She reads through the article, her eyes getting wider every moment. When she’s done, she looks up. “Sokka, this is bad.”

“You think I don’t know that?” Sokka says. “Zuko and I had a schedule! We made one!”

Suki scoffs. “Well screw that, because this is out now.”

Katara tries to cut in “Guys—”

Sokka interrupts her with a “Well, _you’re_ the one in charge of communications here Suki. What do we do?”

“Sokka, Suki—”

“I don’t know,” Suki says, shaking her head, “I have no idea! You know, my life was a lot easier before you decided you were in love with the heir to the Fire Nation throne.”

Katara opens her mouth but Sokka continues before she even has a chance to make a noise. “So was mine Suki!”

Suki looks like she’s been struck by lightning. “We have to talk to your dad,” she says, “right now.”

Sokka blanches. “Suki, we can’t go to my dad yet—”

“Listen to me!” Katara shouts, shutting her eyes as she does. Upon opening them she realizes Sokka and Suki are looking at her. “Um. Zuko and I are friends. I have a lot of pictures with him. We don’t have to say anything, but if I posted something, we could imply that… you know… it’s me?”

Sokka stares at his sister dumbfounded, unable to form a full sentence. It’s Suki who speaks eventually. “Shit, Katara,” she breathes, “that’s actually… a _really_ good idea.” That’s when Suki looks at Sokka, clearly waiting for his sign on.

All Sokka can think about is his baby sister, Katara, who’s hated the spotlight as long as he’s known her. Who invented a secret alter-ego so she could go to parties in high school without being recognized. The most private member of their dad’s administration. She was willing to put all of that on the line for him. “What about Aang?” Sokka asks. In the past months they’d gotten close enough to be something, but out of the public eye. He probably wouldn’t love it if Katara was suddenly, very publicly dating his best friend.

Katara shakes his head. “We don’t have to give him a heads up. We’ve known for a while that,” she looks down at her feet, “something like this could happen. And that I would end up being the contingency plan.” And all over again Sokka’s struck with another wave of love for his sister and self-loathing for himself at not being brave enough to save her from this.

Sokka takes a deep breath. “Just until the election?”

Suki gives him another look. “Call Zuko,” she says.

He does. He spends about fifteen minutes on the phone explaining it to his boyfriend and when he’s done there’s quiet on the other side. He’s worried Zuko’s hung up on him until he hears a sigh. “Tell me where your head’s at, babe,” Sokka says.

“I just,” Zuko starts, before stopping himself. “I don’t want to lie about you. This is being directly dishonest about how much I love you.”

Sokka lets his eyes close and if he tries really hard he can imagine Zuko right next to him. “I hate it too,” he says, “but it’ll all be over soon. Just until the election.”

“Okay,” Zuko says, “just until the election.”

Sokka hangs up on Zuko and Katara posts a picture of the two of them from the club in Ba Sing Se, captioned simply with a winking smiley face. The collective global gossip media goes wild. It takes barely two minutes for them to get the news update the apparently Katara of the Southern Water Tribe is dating Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation. Within twenty minutes, three websites have uploaded a “full timeline” of their relationship, which Sokka thinks means someone was hedging their bets on his boyfriend dating his sister. Some sources even assert that he set them up, which is so ridiculous it almost makes him laugh.

Suki and Ty Lee arrange for Zuko to come to the South Pole a few days later for his date with Katara. They sit outside, Zuko looking ridiculous in his oversized coat. They’re drinking hot chocolate and laughing and Sokka is sitting in a carriage across the street feeling sick to his stomach. He repeats the words _just until the election_ in his head like a mantra, over and over again until he can almost believe they’re true.

When they finish up they get into a carriage together, and Sokka’s follows theirs back to the Ice Palace. Sokka’s content to think about having dinner with Zuko and his whole family as a way to get few the last few miserable moments of the day when Katara and Zuko’s carriage makes a sharp turn into a dead end alleyway. Sokka’s concerned until his carriage makes the same turn. They pull up next to each other and Katara pops out of hers, opening Sokka’s door and climbing over him. He stares at her in shock until she rolls her eyes. “Come on Sokka,” Katara says, making a shooing motion, “he couldn’t shut up about you the whole time. Go.”

Realizing what she’s arranged Sokka wraps his sister in a tight hug before jumping out of his carriage and running into Zuko’s. He slams the door behind him, and they start to move again. Zuko looks at him in awe. “Hi,” he breathes, a smile ghosting across his face.

Sokka doesn’t hesitate before kissing Zuko on the cheek and grabbing the other boy’s hand, their fingers interlocked. “I hated today,” Sokka says, “And I hate lying about you.”

“It’s just until the election,” Zuko reminds him, a little teasingly. Sokka brings Zuko’s hand to his mouth to press a feather-light kiss against the prince’s knuckles. Zuko gives a happy sigh and leans on Sokka’s shoulder. Sokka holds Zuko’s hand a little tighter, hoping he’ll never have to let go.

+

**_To:_ ** _zuko.private@firenation.gov_

**_From:_ ** _sokka@wumail.com_

**_Subject:_ ** _I am writing this at midnight_

_Dear Zuko,_

_I’m having trouble not thinking of you again. In any other time, they’d accuse you of being a sorcerer for bewitching me so entirely and thoroughly. Who knows, maybe you are magic. Quite frankly, it would explain a lot._

_I’ve been doing some thinking lately. Some history, or philosophy maybe. In the ancient world, they thought people had originally been born with four arms, four legs, and two heads. Then the spirits had split them apart because they were too powerful like that. Every new human could function entirely on its own. It could walk and eat and work and smile, but it spent its entire life missing the human it used to be attached to, it’s soulmate. That’s how I feel about you Zuko. Like I’ve been missing you my whole life, like I didn’t know how me I could be until I met you. And not when we were fourteen I mean, obviously._

_Also, in an effort to make you artistically in love with me too, I’ve written a poem for you:_

_Zuko, stole my heart_

_Can’t wait to kiss you again_

_I miss you stupid_

_Write me back soon._

_Idiotically and artistically yours,_

_Sokka_

**_To:_ ** _sokka@wumail.com_

**_From:_ ** _zuko.private@firenation.gov_

**_Subject:_ ** _Re: I am writing this at midnight_

_Dear Sokka_

_First of all, it will please you to know that I have printed out your haiku and taped up on the wall in my room. It is the single greatest poem I’ve ever read, and I plan on reading at least once every day until they bury me in the grave. I only wish I had the poetry skills to write you something of equal awesomeness._

_But alas, I do not have that power. Instead, I’ll tell you my favorite ancient myth about soulmates (not that yours isn’t beautiful, I happen to love it almost as much as I love you)._

_They say that in the days before humans, when the spirits roamed freely across the planet, a spirit of spring got caught in the underworld. The spirit of death fell in love with her and decided to keep her there. The other spirits asked the spirit of death to let the spring spirit leave, but she refused. Finally, they struck up a bargain; for six months the spring spirit would be left to roam the world free, and for the other six she would stay with her wife and rule as a queen of the underworld. Spring and summer are when the spring spirit is free, and winter and fall is when she’s locked away._

_But some people think the story went a little differently, that maybe the spring spirit travelled the underworld on purpose and fell in love just as the spirit of death did. And that by staying half the year with her wife, they brought balance to each other and balance to the world in the form of seasons. That’s how I feel about us. We bring balance to each other and to each other’s worlds._

_Anyways, that’s far too much sappiness for one email. I feel like I should insult you before I go. You lovable dummy. There, I did it. Write back soon._

_Inexplicably and irrevocably still yours,_

_Zuko_

+

It all goes to hell on what would have otherwise been a very nice afternoon.

Sokka, Katara, and Toph are all in Katara’s room, spending a quiet moment together for what felt like the first time in months. Katara’s reading while Sokka and Toph solve a crossword puzzle together. It’s Toph who gets the notification first, because she left her ringer on. “Princess,” she says, throwing her phone to Katara, “tell me what it says.”

Katara yelps, barely catching the phone. Her face drops as she reads the headline. “Sokka,” Katara said, “check your phone.”

Sokka pulls out his phone quickly and feels his heart drop. _Emails Reveal a Secret Romantic Relationship between Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation and First Son Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe_. He reads and it’s all there. Every email he and Zuko sent each other, pictures of the two of them, all in this article for the whole world to see. He looks up at Katara helpless.

Katara reads the panic on his face and has one response. “Find dad.”

So Sokka runs, and it’s a few minutes before he reaches his dad’s office. There are advisors scattered around the room who stare at him as he bursts through the doors. Sokka stands there, breathing heavily, too worried to say anything. His dad stands up, keeping his eyes and hands on his desk. “Get out,” Hakoda says. Sokka worries for a moment his dad means him until he continues. “Did I not make myself clear? I need to talk to my son.”

Sokka looks at his dad, refusing to break eye contact as the room clears. When the last advisor is gone, Hakoda says “First and foremost, I am your dad. I was your dad long before I was High Chief and I will be your dad long after they put me in the grave. I will back you on your play. But I have to know, do you feel forever about him?”

He takes a moment to consider. “Yeah, dad,” Sokka says, “I do. I feel forever about him.”  
  


“Then fuck it.” Sokka could cry as his dad gets everyone back into the room. He’s organizing a response. “Malina, work on putting out a statement. Someone get me in touch with the Fire Palace. You,” he says, turning his gaze to Sokka, “call your boyfriend.”

Sokka nods as he leaves the room. After that he only remembers bits and pieces of the day.

Forty-three outgoing calls to Zuko, none picked up.

A statement delivered from the front lawn. “The Chief asks for privacy and patience during this turbulent time for his family. However, I can assure you there was no misuse of funds, and any other financial questions can be asked at this time.”

Twenty-two more outgoing calls to Zuko before giving up.

A conversation between his dad and Suki outside his bedroom.

“I’m the High Chief of the Southern Water Tribe and I can’t get anyone in Caldera City to pick up my call?”

“I do have one more thing we could try sir, but it’s a little unorthodox.”

Katara coming in and taking his phone from him.

Finally, sleep.

Until Suki throws a pillow at his head to wake him up, saying “Get up, we’re going to Caldera.”

Sokka rubs his eyes and looks at his phone, which Katara had apparently returned to plug in on his bedside table. No missed calls from Zuko, and it looked like he’d only been asleep for a few hours. “Where’s the airship meeting us?”

Suki grabs a bag that it appears she’s packed for him and waves it in front of his face. “No airship,” she says, “but we have to go _now_.” That makes Sokka jump, and he takes the bag from Suki, following her outside. When he gets outside, he decides that maybe he hasn’t woken up after all. Because either he’s asleep, or he’s looking at _the last flying bison in existence_.

Katara and Aang are standing in front of the animal, talking animatedly. Aang realizes Sokka and Suki are there, and Katara notices soon after him. She runs up to the pair, giving Sokka a hug. “Be nice to Appa,” she says, “he’s wild but very loveable.”

“Aang,” Sokka starts, making sure to pace his words carefully, “is that kid? The last Air Nomad kid?”

Katara flinches slightly. “He doesn’t like to talk about it, but yeah. Please be nice to him too.”

Sokka nods. “Okay, got it. Don’t mention being the last surviving member of his culture, all good.” Katara pats his shoulder and pushes him along to follow Suki, who’s already climbing on to the flying bison’s— no _Appa’s_ — back. Aang is already sitting on the animal’s neck, apparently in the driver’s seat.

When he hops on, he thanks Aang profusely for giving them the ride. Aang shrugs. “Fastest way to travel,” he insists, “plus I’m pretty sure Zuko needs you right now.” They take off and Suki grabs his upper arm tightly, muttering something about heights. Sokka takes out the book she packed for him and begins to read until they’re at a cruising altitude. Aang looks back at them and says “It’ll still be like four hours. Suki, you should call if you can.”

“Right,” Suki says, nodding as she fishes her phone out from her purse. She dials a number and holds it to her ear.

“Who are you calling?” Sokka asks.

“Ty Lee.”

“Suki,” Sokka says, “they’re on a communications lockdown, just like us. What makes you think she’ll pick up.”

“Because this is her personal line.” Before Sokka has a chance to press further, Suki’s eyes light up, signaling that Ty Lee is at the other end. “Listen to me,” she growls into the phone, “We are flying bison up and we’re going to touch down in Caldera in four hours. When we get there, I expect a meeting with the fucking Fire Lord. We _will_ figure this shit out. Now put Zuko on the phone, because Sokka hasn’t been able to reach him and I’m sure he’s freaking out just as much as my kids is.”

She hands the phone out to Sokka, who snatches the phone greedily and holds it up to his ear with both hands. On the other end he hears a very meek but unmistakable “Hello?”

He breathes a sigh of relief into the phone. “ _Zuko_.”

“Sokka!” Zuko says, sounding more enthused already. “Oh, thank the spirits. I’ve wanted to get in contact with you, but they took my phone to make sure I didn’t do something stupid.”

Sokka laughs. “Like what?”

Zuko pauses for a moment. “Like confirm it.”

There’s a beat before Sokka says “Listen I know it’s not what we planned—”

He’s cut off by Zuko saying, “If you’re okay with it I think we should—”

They pause again. “Are we about to say the same thing?” Zuko asks.

“If you were about to say that you want to tell the truth,” Sokka says, “then yes. We were. I know it’s not what we planned, but it’s out there now. Might as well start living without having to look over our shoulders every thirty seconds.”

“I’m tired of lying about you,” Zuko says, “I want to tell the truth.”

“Good,” Sokka says, realizing he’s crying. “Because I love you.”

“I love you too. Now go do something productive with the rest of your flight.”

“ _Dude_ ,” Sokka hisses into the phone, “I’m not on an airship. I’m on _Appa_ , which we are _so_ talking about later.” Zuko laughs on the other end of the phone, which is music to Sokka’s ears. “But okay, I’ll see you soon.” They say their goodbyes and Sokka hands the phone back to Suki. “So…”

“Yes?” she responds.

“How did you have Ty Lee’s personal phone number?”

Suki rolls her eyes. “Because she’s my _fiancée_ , asshole, but some of us know the meaning of discretion.”

“Oh my spirits,” Sokka says, “Suki, we’re friends.”

“Absolutely not.”

“We are!” he insists. “You’re my mean friend!”

She rolls her eyes again but doesn’t protest, which Sokka counts as a win. Suddenly Sokka realizes that most of the tension had left him after his call with Zuko, and it starts to sink in how tired he really is. He thinks back to Aang saying they have a good bit longer to go and Zuko tell him to do something productive, and he nods off to sleep.

+

Sokka doesn’t wake up until they land in the Fire Nation, in the back gardens of the Fire Palace. He all but runs into the nearest building he finds, Suki desperately trying to keep up. He throws open the door only to get a knife pushed up against his throat. “I swear to god if I see one more of you reporter types out here…” Mai pauses as she realizes who exactly it she has at knifepoint, before pulling her weapon. “Oh thank spirits it’s you, Sokka. I was gonna drag you over from the South Pole if you didn’t get here soon.”

“Hey Mai,” Sokka says, waving slightly. “Nice to see you too! Would you mind taking me to him?”

Mai nods. “Of course.” She grabs his hand with Suki trailing them at a respectable three feet behind. “It’s been an absolute mess here. Communications lockdown, Zuko’s barely left his room.”

“Mai,” Sokka says, “can I ask you a question? About Zuko?” Mai nods. “We decided one the phone, well, that we want to be honest. Tell the truth about everything. About us. And he seemed excited about it but also… sad? I just want to know, am I pushing him into something he doesn’t want?”

Mai stops and smiles at him, which is a first. “No,” she says, “you’re not, but it’s good of you to ask. He’s just sad about him mom.” Upon seeing Sokka’s look of confusion she sighs and asks, “Mind if I go a bit psych major on you for a minute?” Sokka nods and she continues. “The worst thing that ever happened to Zuko happened when he was just a little kid. You know how they say a human brain isn’t fully developed until it hits twenty-five years? That means his brain was mush when he lost his mom. But he was old enough to remember her, old enough to have complex emotions about it. That means from now on, whenever something bad happens to him, his brain revisits that place in his head it went when his mom died. Does that make sense?”

“Yeah, it does,” Sokka says.

That’s when Mai’s expression turns especially serious. “Sokka, I need you to understand that Zuko, for all his laughs and funny faces has one of the deepest sadnesses of any person I’ve ever met. And you need to love him, even knowing you might never understand all of him.”

Sokka ponders for a moment before responding. “I love him,” he says, “not in spite of that, but because of it. I love him, on purpose.”

Mai nods, satisfied, before continuing their walk to what Sokka is quickly realizing is the throne room. He hears shouting inside, and older man who he assumes must be Fire Lord Ozai and… a teenage girl? He turns to Mai and asks, “Who is that in there?”

It’s a rare sight, but Mai grins at him. A toothy smile that spreads all the way across her face. “Princess Azula,” she clarifies. “Zuko got called in this morning and she marched in right after him, promising she was there to fight. She’s absolutely terrifying, scared the shit out of me when she showed up.” Sokka looks at the twin doors in front of him, suddenly terrified. Mai pats him on the shoulder as a good luck gesture and shoves him inside, Suki walking in after to make sure the door doesn’t slam.

What he sees is a scene straight out of one of Zuko’s crazy oil paintings. The Fire Lord, standing a bit shorter than in his official portraits, is glowering down at a girl he can only assume is Princess Azula. She’s pale with dark hair, tied back in a bun., and Sokka is struck by just how much she looks like her brother. Zuko is slumped over in a chair at the side of the room, his head in his hands. Ty Lee is sitting curled up in a corner, on her laptop. She waves at him and Suki as they walk in.

“You know,” Fire Lord Ozai is saying, “an Earth Kingdom noble, forgive me if I don’t remember his name, told me that all of these things, these emails, can be fabricated! All of it, absolutely fake!”

“Come _on_ dad,” Azula says, “we’re not telling the public that they’re fake. Zuko says he wants to tell the truth, so we’re telling the truth.” She turns around to looks directly at him. “Right, Sokka?”

That makes Zuko perk his head up. His eyes land on Sokka and his face immediately melts into relief as he stands up and dashes across the room to wrap his boyfriend in a hug. Sokka hugs back tightly, burying his face in Zuko’s neck, until the Fire Lord clears his throat. They separate, but Sokka refuses to let Zuko go entirely, keeping a firm clasp on his hand. “Back to business,” Ozai says, “we have to figure out how to cover this.”

“No,” Zuko says, “we’re absolutely not going to do that.”

Ozai frowns. “Zuko, how you could do this with absolutely no regard for the family legacy is beyond me. This conversation is between me and your sister now.” Zuko folds in on himself and Sokka squeezes his hand, bringing some life back.

“We are _not_ going to force Zuko into the closer because of your obsession with legacy!” Azula yells.

That’s when Ty Lee gasps. It’s very dramatic, and everyone in the room turns to look at her. “Sorry,” she says meekly, “I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“Stop,” Suki says, “it’s important. Have you guys seen what’s happening?” She grabs Ty Lee’s computer and brings it up to Ozai, reading from the headlines. “ _Sokka and Zuko: The New Icons of a Generation. Prince Zuko, Lord of our Hearts._ You’ve been so busy thinking of how _you_ feel you haven’t considered the rest of the world!”  
  


“Who the _hell_ are you?” Ozai growls, standing like he’s ready to fight Suki with his bare hands.

“Dad, shut up!” Azula yells. She stalks across the room and opens the curtains, revealing a window that opens out onto the main lawn. Sokka could cry at what he’s seeing. A crowd of easily a thousand has amassed outside, all wearing pride flags. Some hold posters saying “Zuko + Sokka = Tru Love”, “We Love Zuko + Sokka”, and even “FREE ZUKO”. They smile at realizing the curtain is open and being cheering even louder at the sight of the conversation, so loud that the noise is starting to break through the soundproof glass.

Suddenly the curtains are closed again, and the room is darker. Ozai stands in front of the window and says, “Just because a _few_ citizens seem to have taken a liking to this problem of ours doesn’t mean all of them will. Zuko, you should step up and do your duty as a prince by _denying_ these rumors instead of being a coward.”

That’s when Azula steps in. “No,” she says, completely calm “we’re going to release a statement saying we’re proud of Prince Zuko and we’re so excited about his choice of companion that we’re making Sokka an official suitor. Or, we can release a statement saying Zuko’s abdicating the throne in favor of living his life openly.”

Sokka turns to look at Zuko in shock. Zuko nods slightly, a comforting motion that lets Sokka know there’s some sort of plan here. “Daughter,” Ozai says, “as if _you_ could run this country? With your particular brand of difficulty, that’s off the table.”

“You’re right,” Azula says, “that’s why I have this.” She grabs two scrolls from within her robes and unfurls it with a snap of her wrist. “This one says that if Zuko abdicates at any time before your reign ends, I will as well, citing irreconcilable differences with your ruling, leaving Lu Ten as the heir to the throne. And _this_ one is a letter to parliament, detailing all your convenient lapses of memory of the past two years. Sokka is made an official suitor or both of these are mailed to parliament by morning.”

The Fire Lord grimaces and Sokka feels something he hasn’t felt since that night in this very palace so many months ago when he convinced Zuko to stay. He feels like they’ve won. “Well,” Ozai says, “I suppose you don’t leave me with much of a choice then, do you?”

“You’ve always had a choice, father,” Azula responds coyly, “just maybe this time, you’ll make the right one.”

Ozai stands and turns to leave. Feeling a surge of adrenaline. “For what it’s worth,” he shouts at the Fire Lord’s back, “your son is the bravest son of a bitch I’ve ever met!” The Fire Lord tenses, pausing slightly, before continuing out the room.

It’s so quiet in the throne room a hair could fall on the floor and echo. Then Zuko starts laughing. “Holy shit,” he says, grabbing on to Sokka’s shoulders and facing him, “that just happened.”

Suddenly Zuko’s let go of him and grabbed his sister, hugging her close to his chest. They’re both crying and Sokka feels like he’s invading on something exceedingly private. “We did it,” Azula says, looking up at her brother. That’s when Sokka notices just how much she reminds him of Katara. “I’m sorry it took me so long, but we did it.”

“Don’t _ever_ apologize,” Zuko says. “You did the absolute most incredible thing anyone has ever done for me today.”

Azula sniffles and wipes a tear away from her eye. Then she sets her sights on Sokka. “Hi,” she starts, “I’m sorry, but I don’t think we’ve officially met yet. Princess Azula.” She holds out her hand to shake.

Sokka takes it. “I’m Sokka,” he says, “and I’m glad to finally meet you. Your brother speaks very highly of you.”

“Likewise. I’m sure you realize if you do anything to hurt him I’ll have you publicly executed on our front lawn.”

“Azula!” Zuko interjects, looking scandalized.

“As you should,” Sokka says, nodding.

Azula grins at that. “Well then, I’ll leave you two lovebirds alone for some well-deserved together time. Zuko,” she says, “we’re having dinner in my chambers tonight and watching a dumb movie. Don’t be late.” Zuko nods enthusiastically as Azula leaves, turning back to Sokka with a wide smile.

Sokka drags Zuko out of the throne room and pushes him up against the nearest wall and kisses him. They’re both crying and Sokka realizes, not for the first time, that he never wants to stop kissing Zuko. Then, for the first time, he realizes he never has to. “I love you,” he breathes against Zuko’s ear.

“I love you too.”

It’s hard to say anything but variations of those three words the entire carriage ride they spend together taking Suki and Sokka to the landing strip where the airship is going to pick them up to take them back to the South Pole. Suki is passed out on Ty Lee’s shoulder, who is elated that she can finally talk about her fiancée in public.

The carriage stops and Sokka turns to Zuko, quickly kissing him on the cheek. He snaps a picture with his phone and Zuko blushes at the realization of what’s happened. Sokka looks at the photo, satisfied with how in love he looks and how absolutely adorable Zuko looks. He kisses Zuko again as a goodbye (Suki and Ty Lee are saying theirs outside the carriage, before slipping the door open and walking slowly towards the airship.

When he finally sits down, he opens twitter. Sokka pulls up the photo of Zuko and him and posts it, simply captioning it “yours”.

+

The next few days are a blur, and when Sokka will think back on it, it’s nothing but a few scatted snapshots. Returning to the South Pole to see people cheering for him, posters in hand. His speech in front of the Ice Palace announcing who he was to the world, Katara and Zuko standing behind him. Gilak on the news arguing that it was irresponsible of Hakoda to let him use a private email server and how good of a leader can he possibly be if he’s a negligent father? One of his dad’s allies shutting him down, quickly and succinctly.

The one thing that’s strikingly absent from all of it is Toph. When he asks Katara she shrugs and remarks that she hasn’t seen the girl since the day the emails were leaked. Toph doesn’t make a reappearance until she bursts into Hakoda’s office while Katara and Sokka are there talking about late-stage campaigning.

As the doors slam behind her she stands still, looking a little crazed, as the family regards her cautiously. “I know you haven’t seen me in a bit,” Toph starts, “but I have some really important things I have to say.”

“What the hell, Toph?” Sokka says, suddenly angry. “This was one of the hardest weeks of my life, where the fuck were you?”

Toph takes a deep breath. “So, I was looking for you guys the days the emails got leaked, right? Trying to figure out what I could do to help but I was being really useless, so I took a coffee break. I went to that new place a few blocks from here and some guy sat down across from me, which was like, _super_ weird because who does that right?”

“Toph,” Hakoda interrupts, “I know this probably seems very important but—”

“Dad!” Toph shouts. When she realizes what she’s said she blushes and sputters “Uh, Hakoda, I mean sir. I promise there’s a point to this story if you just let me get there.”

Hakoda looks like he’s about to cry out of happiness. Sokka would roll his eyes if it wasn’t so sweet. “By all means, please finish.”

“Right,” Toph continues, “so he comes up to me and starts speaking through a _voice modulator_. He says that _Gilak’s campaign_ was the one who leaked the messages. He gave me a whole stack of papers which, mind you, it was a pain to scan and have my screen reader dictate to me, but it was true. They’ve had a tail on you for months, basically since we went to Ba Sing Se. I have all the proof of it upstairs in my room. Hard copies.”

They all stay silent. “Spirits,” Katara said, “Toph, that’s… that’s _incredible_. We can take them down, leak it to the press—”

“No, Katara,” Hakoda said, “if we leak it straight to the press the Gilak campaign will flat out deny it. If we do this, we need to have someone on their side confirm it. This is criminal and it needs to stick.”

“Thought of that,” says Toph, “that’s why I spent time talking to a lot of the weak links on the Gilak campaign. Took their pulses to see who was lying to me. It’s this guy named Maliq. If you immunize him he’ll confirm the whole story.” Sokka looks at Toph stunned and then does the only thing he can think to—wraps her in a hug. “Ugh,” she says, “did I do something to make you think I like affection now?”

“Shut up,” Sokka whispers, holding her tightly.

Hakoda smiles behind them. “When my son’s done hugging you,” he says, “get those documents from your room, Toph. We’re talking to the press.”

+

The election is just three weeks after The Southern Times ran _Stalking for Votes: How the Gilak Campaign used First Son Sokka’s Private Life as a Political Playground_ as a headline on their front page. The response had been overwhelming in support of Sokka and against Gilak, but that didn’t mean Sokka wasn’t still worried about the outcome. His dad did an incredible job for four years, but was it enough?

It was closer than it should have been. Gilak cheated. Shouldn’t that be enough? But still the Southern Water Tribe seemed divided in what they wanted their leadership to look like moving forward. All Sokka could do to keep from biting his nails was think about Zuko getting there.

Zuko had promised he was on his way, but as Sokka opened his phone to check in he saw a few new texts.

**_Zuko:_ ** _Unexpected storms. We’re being rerouted, I’ll lyk when I have more info._

**_Zuko:_ ** _We just landed at Kyoshi Island. That’s sort of near the South Pole, right?_

**_Zuko:_ ** _Have just been informed that Kyoshi Island is in fact, not at all really near the South Pole._

**_Zuko:_ ** _They said they’ll let us back up in the air in a few minutes. Getting to you as fast as I can._

Sokka manages to laugh before sending a text in response.

**_Sokka:_ ** _just get here as soon as u can asshole imy_

Sokka’s walking forward, still staring at his phone in case Zuko texts back, when he feels a tug at his collar pulling him backwards. “Easy there,” a familiar voice says behind him. “You should watch where you’re going.” Sokka realized that he’d been saved from walking into their yet to be cut into victory cake. “I think if you knock over another one of those things, they might start not letting you in events anymore.”

He turns and smiles at his company. “Hey Jet.”

A few days after the emails had linked, Jet had texted him _Hey, I’m sorry we were such dicks to each other in high school. Clearly we were both processing some things (me faster than you ofc), but maybe we could have gotten our shit figured out together. Also, some reporter called me up and asked about our relationship. I told him to drown in a ditch._ So yeah, he’d gotten an invite to the victory party.

Jet grinned that stupid smile of his as he jutted out his pointy chin, letting his dark hair fall in front of his eyes— Tui, Sokka really had a type, didn’t he? “Hiya Sokka,” he said, calm as ever. “I want to introduce you to someone. This is my boyfriend, Haru.”

Haru grinned. “It’ so nice to meet you, Sokka!” he said. “We love your dad. He’s such an incredible leader, and he’s so progressive too. He’s the absolute best!”

Sokka puffs his chest out a little at the praise. “I think he’s pretty great too,” Sokka said, “and maybe if you stick around for a bit, I could get you a chance to meet him!”

“Really?” Haru opened his mouth in shock before turning to boyfriend. “Jet, you never told me how _cool_ Sokka was.”

“Calm down,” Jet said, “he wouldn’t have passed eleventh grade science without me.”  
  


“Chemistry is hard!” Sokka protests.

That’s when Toph comes over and tugs on his arm. “They need you in the green room.”

Sokka looks at Haru and Jet apologetically as Jet rolls his eyes. “Go on,” says Jet, “be the big important guy you were destined to be. Just don’t forget us little people when it’s over!”

Toph drags him to where his father is meant to be waiting, only to find Katara and his dad in a screaming match. Katara catches sight of him and runs over. “Tell him,” she growls, pointing at Hakoda, “that I won’t do it.”

Hakoda holds up his hands in surrender. “All I asked was for her too take a few looks over my concession speech, make sure there were no grammatical errors!”

“Dad, _no_ ,” Sokka said, shocked his dad would even ask.

That’s when Katara turned and pointe an accusing finger at him. “Listen to me,”  
she says, “you will never have to read that concession speech. We are going to have another fantastic four years of your progressive governance and skilled leadership and in an hour we will _rip that piece of paper to shreds_.”

Their dad nods, looking more than a little terrified of his daughter. “Sokka,” he says, turning to the currently less hostile child, “would you mind going out there? Giving a speech to pump up the crowd?”

Sokka nods and runs through the door to the backstage, ready to speak after the end of the song they’re playing. When the music wraps out he goes on stage, standing behind the podium. “Hey everyone,” he starts a little nervously, “some election we’re having tonight huh?” Sokka gets some polite laughs from the crowd, but he refuses to stop there.

“You know,” he continues, “this isn’t the first time we’ve been here. Four years ago, people looked my dad dead in the eye and told him he would never win. That he was too young, that he cared too much, that he was too progressive, too green to ever make it as High Chief. But four years ago, we proved them wrong. And what do we have to show for it? Four years of incredible laws. Four years of expanded civil rights. Four years of strong leadership.”

The crowd is starting to get into it, giving him some hollers and cheers. “So, what do you say?” Sokka asks. “Should we prove them wrong again? Should we show them just how much the South Pole wants four more years?”

The crowd goes wild at that, taking up the chant of “Four more years!”

Sokka joins in for a few rounds before slipping back behind the curtains, only to be pulled into a kiss. He relaxes immediately knowing his boyfriend has arrived to make some of this night less hellish. As Zuko pulls away he says, “You’re a _fantastic_ public speaker.”

All Sokka can stammer out is “Your tie’s blue.”

Zuko looks down. “Yeah, it is!” he says, seemingly excited that Sokka’s noticed. “Water Tribe colors. I thought it’d be good luck.”

“I love you,” Sokka says, before pulling Zuko into another kiss.

That’s when he hears it from outside. It’s one of the talking heads on the news, announcing that they’ve counted some ballots from the Eastern regions. “With a landslide victory in the East,” the anchor’s saying, “we are officially ready to call this election for Hakoda, giving the current High Chief another four years at his job!”

The crowd roars as Sokka sees his dad walking towards him, pushed forward by Katara and Toph who are wearing equally large grins. Hakoda waves at Sokka before getting on stage and beginning to speak. “Thank you!” his dad starts, letting the crowd cheer him on before he starts with the substance and the policy. “Thank you, for taking a chance on a young dad who cares too much. Thank you for taking that chance twice!”  
  


“Come one,” Sokka says, grabbing Zuko’s hand, “I have something I want to show you.” He leads Zuko outside of the ballroom, out into the snow. Zuko shivers and Sokka laughs before sitting down.

“What?” Zuko asks indignantly, joining him the snow. “I’m cold. I’m from the Fire Nation and it’s always hot there so this is new to me.”

Sokka lies all the way dow and pushes Zuko so that he’s doing the same. “Look,” Sokka says, pointing up. The aurora australis is in full effect, and last night after Katara mentioned it Sokka had realized he’d never shown it to Zuko. Zuko’s staring openmouthed and looks like he’s in love. Sokka grins and says, “That’s what my heart looks like whenever it’s around you.”

He expects Zuko to hit him on the arm or complain about him being cheesy. Instead Zuko rolls onto his side so he’s looking at Sokka and simply says, “Loving you has made me a better person.”

Sokka laughs. “Fuck, you win,” he concedes, sitting up so he can lean down to kiss Zuko. Zuko grins against his lips as they stop and Sokka smiles back. _Forever_ , Sokka thinks giddily, _we have forever_. As if reading his mind, Zuko kisses him again and Sokka thinks that maybe, just this once, he should live in the right now and just kiss his incredibly hot, too kind, wickedly awesome boyfriend back. So he does.

**Author's Note:**

> leave a comment or kudos to show me you care! follow me on tumblr [tophbejfong](https://tophbejfong.tumblr.com/)


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